bCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 


fVES   GUYOT 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT  LOS  ANGELES 


Stratford  &  Green 

640  S.  Main  St. 
Los  Angeles,  -  -  Cal. 


ynj'"'"P' — - 


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SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 


SOCIALISTIC 
FALLACIES 


BY 

YVES     GUYOT 


NEW  YORK 
THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 


First  Published  in  igio 


^v'^'' 
v'4'' 


CONTENTS 


ff^.    Preface  to  the  English  Edition        .... 

BOOK  I.       UTOPIAS   AND   COMMUNISTIC 


Vlll 


^     Chapter  I 

II 

III 

IV 

V 

VI 

VII 

f  VIII 

I  IX 

X 

XI 


EXPERIMENTS. 

Plato's    Romance  .... 

The   Kingdom  of   the   Incas 

Sir     Thomas      More's     Utopia      and      Its 

Applications 

Andrefe  and    Campanella 

Paraguay         

Morelly  and  the  "Code  de  la  Nature" 
Robert  Owen   and    "New    Harmony" 
Fourier   and    the    American    Phalanx 
The   Oneida   Community 
Cabet    and    the   American    Icarians    . 
American    Experiments 


27 
30 

33 
38 
40 
46 
50 
55 
63 
65 
70 


BOOK   II.     SOCIALISTIC   THEORIES. 

Chapter  I     Saint  Simon 73 

II     Pierre    Leroux   and   the    "Circulus"    .         .  78 

III  Louis  Blanc  and  the  Organisation  of  Labour  81 

IV  The    Labour    Conferences    at    the    Luxem- 

bourg and   the   National  Workshops     .  84 

V     The    Right   to  Work 90 

VI     Proudhon's  Theories 92 

VII     Proudhon's     Proposed     Decrees     and     the 

Bank    of    Exchange          ....  97 


2080S0 


vi  CONTENTS    (continued) 

BOOK   III.     THE    POSTULATES    OF    GERMAN 
SOCIALISM. 

Chapter  I    "True"    Socialism 103 

II     The   Claims   of   Marx    and    Engels      .         .  105 

III  The   Sources   of  German  Socialism      .         .  107 

IV  Formula  B  and  the  "Iron  Law  of  Wages"  108 

V  Formula   A,    Work    the    Measure   of   Value  1 1 1 
VI     Karl  Marx  and  Formulae   A,   B,   and    C     .  114 

VII     The  Discoveries  of  Karl  Marx  and  the  Facts  127 

VIII     The  Two  Classes 131 

BOOK    IV.        THE    DISTRIBUTION    OF    CAPITAL. 

Chapter  I    Bernstein      and      the      Concentration      of 

Capital    and    of    Industry       .         .         .  137 

II    The  Poor  become  Poorer     .        .        .        .  142 

III  Financial   Feudalism 147 

IV  Real    and    Apparent  Income         .         .         .  151 

V  The  Distribution  of  Inheritances  in  France  155 
VI     The    Distribution    of    Landed    Property   in 

France 161 

VII     Marx's  Principles  and   Small  Properties     .  170 

VIII    Limited   Liability    Companies       .         .         .  173 

IX     Cartels    and    Trusts 175 

BOOK  V.     THE  DISTRIBUTION  OF  INDUSTRIES. 

Chapter  I     Marx's   Theory  and    the    Concentration    of 

Industries 187 

II     The     Distribution     of    Industries    in     the 

United  States 188 

III  The  Distribution  of  Industries  in  France  .  205 

IV  The  Distribution  of  Industries  in  Belgium  .  217 

BOOK   VI.     THE   INCONSISTENCIES   OF   SCIENTIFIC 

SOCIALISM. 

Chapter  I    "Scientific"   Prophecies         ....  227 

II    The    Prophets    of   "Catastrophes"      .         .  330 

III     Admissions    of   the   Apostles         .         .        .  233 


CONTENTS   (continued) 


vn 


BOOK  VII.       COLLECTIVIST   ORGANISATION. 

Chapter  I    Collective   Organisation   and  its   Economic 

Conditions 241 

II     The   Claes  War  and  Political  Conditions  .  256 

III  The   Deflections  of  Administrative   Organs  259 

IV  The   Impossibility    of   Collectivism       .         .  261 


BOOK  VIII.       THE  ACTUAL  CLASS  WAR 

Chapter  I  Strikes    and  Trade     Unions 

II  The    Sovereignty   of    the    Strikers 

III  The  Nation  at  the  Service  of  the  Strikers 

IV  The   Electricians'    Strike 
V  The   Tyranny   of  Minorities 

VI  Destruction    of    Property    and    Plant    and 
the   General  Strike 

VII  Labour  Exchanges  in  France 

VIII  The    American    "Labour    Unions" 

IX  The    Exploitation    of   Intimidation 

X  Compulsory    Arbitration 

XI  Conclusions       ...... 


BOOK    IX.        SOCIALISM    AND    DEMOCRACY 

Chapter  I    The     Programme      of     the     International 

Association 

II     Socialism    versus    Democracy 

III  How    Many   Are    There?       .        .         .         . 

IV  The    Havre    Programme     and    M.    Jaures' 

Solutions.     M.    Deslinieres'    Provisional 
Laws  .... 

V     Social  and  National  Policy  . 
VI     Positive    and    Negative   Policy 
VII     Tactics  of  the  Social  War     . 
VIII     Against    the    Law 
IX     Depressing    Effect    upon    Wealth 
X     The   Impotence   of    Socialism 


267 

274 
278 
284 
289 

292 
297 
299 
303 
309 
314 


317 
320 
326 


329 

333 
334 
335 
338 
340 
342 


PREFACE  TO  THE  ENGLISH   EDITION 


I  take  the  word  "fallacy"  in  the  sense  in  which 
it  is  employed  by  Bentham^  : — "By  the  name  of 
fallacy,  it  is  common  to  designate  any  aigument 
employed,  or  topic  suggested,  for  the  purpose,  or 
with  a  probability,  of  producing  the  effect  of  decep- 
tion— of  causing  some  erroneous  opinion  to  be 
entertained  by  any  person  to  whose  mind  such 
argument  may  have  been  presented." 

In  the  following  pages  my  object  has  been  to 
reduce  to  their  true  value  the  socialistic  fallacies 
with  which  a  number  of  able,  but  frequently 
unscrupulous,  men,  amuse  the  idle  and  attract  the 
multitude.  They  do  not  even  possess  the  merit  of 
having  originated  either  their  arguments  or  their 
systems.  They  are  plagiarists,  with  some  varia- 
tions, of  all  the  communist  romances  inspired  by 
Plato.  Their  greatest  pundits,  Marx  and  Engels, 
have  built  up  their  theories  upon  a  sentence  of 
Saint  Simon  and  three  phrases  of  Ricardo.^ 

What  has  become  of  the  Utopias  of  Fourier  and 

1  "The   Book   of  Fallacies."     Introduction.     Sect.   I. 

2  See  infra,  Bc.ok  III.,   chap.  3. 


X  PREFACE 

of  Cabet,  of  Louis  Blanc's  organisation  of  labour, 
of  Proudhon's  bank  of  exchange,  of  Lassalle's 
question  of  the  right  to  work  and  of  the  iron  law 
of  wages,  and  of  Karl  Marx'  and  Engels'  Com- 
munistic Manifesto  ?  As  soon  as  you  attempt  a 
discussion  with  Socialists,  they  tell  you  that  "the 
Socialism  which  you  are  criticising  is  not  the  true 
one."  If  you  ask  them  to  give  you  the  true  one, 
they  are  at  a  loss,  thereby  proving  that,  if  they  are 
agreed  upon  the  destruction  of  capitalist  society, 
they  do  not  know  what  they  would  substitute  for 
individual  property,  exchange  and  wages.  In 
June,  1906,  M.  Jaures  promised  to  bring  forward 
within  four  or  five  months  propositions  for  legisla- 
tion which  should  supply  a  basis  for  coUectivist 
society.  He  takes  good  care  not  to  formulate  them 
because  he  foresees  the  risk  to  which  he  would  be 
exposing  himself,  despite  the  incomplete  develop- 
ment in  him  of  a  sense  of  the  ridiculous. 

No  Socialist  has  succeeded  in  explaining  the 
conditions  for  the  production,"  remuneration  and 
distribution  of  capital  in  a  coUectivist  system.  No 
Socialist  has  succeeded  in  determining  the  motives 
for  action  which  individuals  would  obey.  When 
pressed  for  an  answer,  they  allege  that  human 
nature  will  have  been  transformed. 

This  introduces  a  difticulty ;  for,  if  I  am  hungry 
or  thirsty,  can  someone  else,  in  a  coUectivist 
society,  give  me  relief?  When  Denys  the  Tyrant 
had  a  stomach-ache,  he  never  succeeded  in  handing 
it  on  to  a  slave.  Torquemada,  by  torturing  and 
burning  heretics  and  Jews,  was  able  to  prevent  the 
expression  of  ideas ;  he  never  succeeded  in  changing 
one.     The  individual  remains  a  constant  quantity. 

While  leaving  out  of  account  the  fact  that  the 
more  the  individual  develops,  the  stronger  will  be 
the  resistance  he  offers  to  every  kind  of  repression, 
coUectivists  end  in  a  government  by  police  on  the 
model  of  those  of  the  Incas  in  Peru  or  the  Jesuits 


PREFACE  xi 

in  Paraguay.^  "The  proletarian  class  will  govern,'.' 
savs  Karl  Marx,  but  he  does  not  explain  how.  Mr. 
Carl  Pearson,  one  of  the  "intellectuals"  of  Socialism 
who  has  the  courage  of  his  convictions,  recently 
said  :  "Socialists  have  to  inculcate  that  spirit  which 
would  give  offenders  against  the  State  short  shrift 
and  the  nearest  lamp-post."'^  The  reader  will  be 
referred  hereafter  to  another  quotation  which  proves 
that,  in  a  slightly  modified  form,  this  is  also  the 
opinion  of  M.  Deslinieres.^ 

While  awaiting  this  happy  consummation,  the 
Stuttgart  Congress  has  reaffirmed,  on  August  20th, 
1907,  that  he  only  can  be  recognised  as  a  true 
Socialist  who  adheres  to  the  struggle  of  classes. 
According  to  this  conception,  the  wish  of  one  class 
constitutes  law ;  audacious  minorities  will  oppress 
intimidated  majorities,  and  the  social  war  is  to 
rage  permanently.  These  Socialists  transfer  all 
the  conceptions  of  a  warlike  civilisation  to  economic 
society;  the  individual  who  is  enrolled  among  their 
troops  owes  passive  obedience  to  his  leaders,  and 
the  independents  are  enemies  to  be  received  with  the 
classic  option  of  "your  money  or  your  life!" 
Socialism  is  a  hierarchy  on  a  military  basis,  im- 
ported from  Germany,  as  M.  Charles  Andler  pro- 
claims.* When  they  reserve  all  their  energies 
against  their  fellow-citizens,  the  supporters  of  the 
struggle  of  classes  are  logical ;  for  it  is  not  worth 
troubling  to  take  from  a  neighbour  who  would  de- 
fend himself  that  which  will  be  within  reach  of  their 
hands  on  the  day  when  they  attain  to  power.  The 
French  Socialists  show  how  they  will  employ  their 
power,  by  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  the 
Commune;  and  those  of  them — such  as  the  leaders 

1  See  infra,  Book  I.,  cbai>s.  ii.  and  v. 

2  Carl  Pearson,  "Ethics  of  Free  Thought,"  p.  324  (quoted  by 
Robert  Flint,  "Socialism,"  p.  334). 

3  See  infra.  Book  IX.,  chap.  iv.     M.  Deslinieree  is  the  author 
of  the   Code   Socialiste. 

4  Communiet  Manifesto,  vol.  ii.,  p.   178. 


xii  PREFACE 

of  the  General  Confederation  of  Labour — who 
claim  to  be  practical,  put  before  their  levies  as  an 
ideal,  a  general  strike,  accompanied  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  industrial  property  and  plant,  short  circuits, 
explosions  of  gas  and  of  dynamite,  and  the  derail- 
ment and  holding  up  of  trains. 

Mr.  James  Leatham,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  "The 
Class  War,"i  says  that  "the  Independent  Labour 
Party  is  the  only  Socialist  party  in  Europe,  prob- 
ably in  the  world,  which  does  not  accept,  but 
explicitly  repudiates,  the  principle  of  the  class  war." 
But  the  Social  Democratic  Federation,  founded  by 
Mr.  William  Hyndman,  which  in  1907  became  the 
Social  Democratic  party,  "proclaims  and  preaches 
the  class  war."^  The  Independent  Labour  Party 
is  unable  to  adhere  to  this  totidem  verbis.  By  the 
force  of  circumstances,  its  programme  confines  it  to 
practical  matters,  since  it  admits  of  the  power  of 
confiscation  of  private  property.  The  Labour 
Party,  which  from  1900  to  1906  was  known  as  the 
Labour  Representation  Committee  and  now  forms 
the  Parliamentary  Labour  Party,  does  not  dis- 
semble as  to  its  programme.  At  the  eighth  annual 
conference  at  Hull  in  January,  1908,  the  following 
resolution  was  endorsed  by  514,000  votes  to 
469,000  :  — 

That  in  the  opinion  of  the  Conference  the  time  has 
arrived  when  the  Labour  Party  should  have  a  definite 
object,  the  socialisation  of  the  means  of  production, 
distribution  and  exchange,  to  be  controlled  by  a  demo- 
cratic state  in  the  interests  of  the  entire  Community ;  and 
the  complete  emancipation  of  Labour  from  the  domina- 
tion of  capitalism  and  landlordism  with  the  establishment 
of  social  and  economic  equality  between  the  sexes." 

Even  if  a  large  majority  be  not  associated  with 
this  declaration,  the  Labour  Party  has  absorbed  the 
Trade   Union   group   in   the  House  of  Commons, 

1  1907. 

2  "The  Social  Democratic  Federation:  its   objects,   its   prin- 
ciples,   and   its  works,"    1907. 


PREFACE 


Xlll 


which  numbered  twenty-one  members  after  the 
General  Election  of  1906.  The  Labour  Party  put 
forward  fifty  candidates,  of  whom  thirty  were 
elected.  But  the  Miners'  Federation  decided  in 
June,  1908,  by  a  majority  on  the  ballot  of  44,843 
votes,  definitely  to  join  the  Labour  Party.  The 
result  of  this  is  that  at  the  next  General  Election 
the  fifteen  miners'  members  of  the  Trade  Union 
group  will  have  to  sign  the  Labour  Party  constitu- 
tion. At  the  end  of  1908  there  were  remaining  only 
three  members  of  the  Trade  Union  group. ^ 

The  Social  Democratic  Party  carries  the  Inde- 
pendent Labour  Party  along  with  it  :  the  two 
combined  in  the  Labour  Party  carry  the  Trade 
Union  group,  and  although  the  Labour  Party 
numbers  less  than  fifty  votes  in  the  House,  it  is 
sweeping  towards  Socialism  the  majority  of  380 
members  of  the  Liberal  Party  elected  in  1906. 
These  latter  refuse  to  listen  to  the  warnings  of  their 
colleague  Mr.  Harold  Cox,  who  was  informed  by 
the  representative  of  the  Preston  Liberal  Association 
that  it  was  intended  to  contest  his  seat  at  the  General 
Election. 2 

The  programme  of  the  Labour  Party  includes  :  — 
(a)  The  collective  regulation  of  industry ;  (b)  the 
gradual  direct  transference  of  land  and  industrial 
capital  from  individual  to  collective  ownership  and 
control ;  (c)  absorption  by  the  State  of  unearned 
income  and  unearned  increment ;  (d)  provision  for 
needs  of  particular  sections  of  the  community. 

The  Socialists  may  claim  with  pride  that  the 
advance  has  already  begun  along  each  of  these 
lines. 

Since  the  coming  into  office  of  the  present 
Government  they  have  obtained  the  Trade  Disputes 
Act,  Avhich  formally  recognises  the  right  of  picket- 
ing, that  is  the  right  to  intimidate  as  against  non- 

1  "The   Reformer's   Year  Book/'   1909.     p.    27. 

2  See  the  article  by  Mr.  Cox  ("Socialism  in  the  House  of 
Commons")   in   the   "Edinburgh    Review"   for   1907 


XIV 


PREFACE 


strikers,  and  relieves  the  Trade  Unions  of  all  legal 
responsibility  with  regard  to  their  agents.  A  Coal 
Mines  Bill  (iQog)  provides  that  no  miner  shall  work 
underground  for  more  than  eight  hours  a  day. 
Using  the  sweating  system  as  a  pretext,  they  have 
obtained  the  constitution  of  Wages  Boards,  with 
power  to  fix  a  minimum  wage.  Despite  the  French 
experience  of  "Bourses  du  Travail,"  Mr.  Winston 
Churchill  has  introduced  a  Bill  for  the  establish- 
ment of  Labour  Exchanges  which  has  scarcely  met 
with  any  opposition.  In  1908,  the  Old  Age  Pen- 
sions Act  provided  that  as  from  the  ist  of  Januarv, 
1909,  old  age  pensions  may  be  claimed  by  all  per- 
sons of  70  years  or  over  who  fulfil  the  statutory 
conditions. 

Until  1906  the  Liberal  and  Democratic  party  in 
Great  Britain  placed  in  the  forefront  of  its  pro- 
gramme the  relief  of  the  taxpayer  by  the  reduction 
of  the  National  Debt  and  the  decrease  of  taxation. 
It  prided  itself  on  its  sound  finance.  From  the 
time  when  the  Socialists  try  to  make  the  State  pro- 
vide for  the  livelihood  and  the  happiness  of  all,  the 
Liberal  Government  bases  its  existence  upon  the 
increase  of  expenditure.  The  Budget  shews  a 
deficit.  So  much  the  better !  Taxation  is  no 
longer  imposed  solely  for  the  purpose  of  meeting 
expenditure  incurred  in  the  general  interest.  It  is 
looked  upon  as  an  instrument  for  the  confiscation 
of  the  rents  paid  to  landlords  and  of  the  interest 
paid  to  holders  of  stocks  and  shares,  as  a  means 
of  absorption  by  the  State  of  unearned  income  and 
unearned  increment.  The  Budget  for  1909-1910 
introduced  by  Mr.  Lloyd  George  is  an  application 
of  this  portion  of  the  Socialist  programme.  No 
doubt  he  states  that  the  scale  of  taxation  proposed 
by  him  is  a  modest  one,  but  he  is  placing  the  instru- 
ment in  the  hands  of  the  Socialists.  When  they 
have  once  grasped  it,  they  will  know  how  to  use  it. 
Mr.  Shackleton,  M.P.,  in  opening  the  Trade  LInion 
Congress  on  September  6th,   1909,  referred  to  it  as 


PREFACE  XV 

"a  Budget  which  will  rank  as  the  greatest  financial 
reform  of  modern  times." 

The  Socialists  may  well  be  proud  of  their  success 
in  Great  Britain.  Although  they  number  less  than 
nine  per  cent,  of  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  they  have  succeeded  in  conferring  the 
privilege  of  irresponsibility  upon  the  Trade  Unions, 
in  laying  the  foundation  in  the  Budget  for  the 
socialisation  of  land  and  of  industrial  capital  and  in 
converting  financial  legislation  into  an  instrument 
for  the  struggle  of  classes.  And  Mr.  Keir  Hardie 
was  able,  on  September  ist,  1909,  at  Ipswich,  to  say 
without  covering  himself  with  ridicule,  that  the 
present  generation  will  see  the  establishment  of 
Socialism  in  England  !  The  question  of  the  unem- 
ployed is  an  excellent  means  of  agitation,  and  Mr. 
Thorne,  M.P.,  has  not  hesitated  to  advise  them  to 
plunder  the  baker's  shops.  If  his  advice  had  been 
followed,  where  would  bread  have  been  found  on 
the  following  day? 

Socialistic  policy  can  only  be  a  policy  of  ruin  and 
of  misery  :  the  question  which  it  involves  is  that  of 
free  labour  actuated  by  the  motive  of  profit  as 
against  servile  labour  induced  by  coercion.  The 
Socialist  ideal  is  that  of  slave  labour,  convict  labour, 
pauper  labour  and  forced  labour — a  singular  con- 
ception of  the  dignitv  of  the  labourer.  As  regards 
its  economic  results,  Mr.  St.  Leo  Strachey  cites  the 
following,  among  other  examples,  in  his  excellent 
little  book,  Problems  and  Perils  of  Socialisvi.  In 
1893,  Mr.  Shaw  Lefevre,  as  Commissioner  of 
Public  Works,  arranged  to  pull  down  a  part  of 
Millbank  Prison  by  means  of  the  unemploved. 
When  these  men  worked  with  the  knowledge  that 
their  pay  would  vary  according  to  the  work  done, 
they  did  twice  as  much  as  when  they  knew  that 
whether  they  worked  or  idled  their  pay  would  be 
6^d.  an  hour. 

The  prospect  of  gain  does  not  exercise  its 
influence    only    upon    the    wage-earner,    it    reacts 


XVI 


PREFACE 


upon  all  men,  financiers,  employers  of  labour, 
and  investors,  because  it  admits  of  an  immediate 
and  certain  sanction,  that  of  gain  or  loss. 

A  private  employer  will  make  profits  where  the 
State  suffers  loss.  While  individuals  make  profits 
and  save,  governments  are  wasteful  and  run  into 
debt.  Statesmen  and  local  officials  are  free  from 
direct  responsibility,  and  know  that  they  will  not 
go  bankrupt  and  that  the  taxpayers  will  foot  the  bill. 

A  fakir  no  doubt  will  torture  himself  in  order  to 
attain  to  superhuman  felicity.  Millions  of  men 
have  submitted  to  the  cruel  necessities  of  war  and 
have  given  their  lives  for  their  family,  their  caste, 
their  tribe  or  their  country.  Others  have  braved 
persecution  and  suffered  the  most  atrocious  tortures 
for  their  faith.  It  may  be  said  that  man  is  ready 
for  every  form  of  sacrifice,  except  one.  Nowhere 
and  at  no  time  has  man  been  found  to  labour  volun- 
tarily and  constantly  from  a  disinterested  love  for 
others.  Man  is  only  compelled  to  productive  labour 
by  necessity,  by"  the  fear  of  punishment,  or 
by  suitable  remuneration. 

The  Socialists  of  to-day,  like  those  of  former 
times,  constantly  denounce  the  w^aste  of  competi- 
tion. Competition  involves  losses,  but  biological 
evolution,  as  well  as  that  of  humanity,  proves  that 
they  are  largely  compensated  by  gain.  Further- 
more, there  is  no  question  of  abolishing  competi- 
tion, in  Socialist  conceptions  ;  the  question  is  merely 
one  of  the  siihstitiition  of  political  for  economic 
competition.  If  economic  competition  leads  to 
waste  and  claims  its  victims,  it  is  none  the  less 
productive.  Political  competition  has  secured  enor- 
mous plunder  to  great  conquerors  such  as  Alex- 
ander, Caesar,  Tamerlane  and  Napoleon ;  it  always 
destroys  more  wealth  than  it  confers  upon  the 
victor. 

We  have  seen  the  operation  of  political  competi- 
tion in  the  internal  economy  of  States.  In  the 
Greek  Republics,  and  in  those  of  Rome  and  Flor- 


PREFACE  xvii 

ence,  in  which  the  possession  of  power  and  of 
wealth  was  combined,  it  was  impossible  for  parties 
to  co-exist;  the  struggle  of  factions  could  onlv 
end  in  the  annihilation  of  one  and  the  relentless 
triumph  of  the  other.  This  is  the  policy  repre- 
sented by  Socialism. 

The  first  result  is  to  frighten  capital,  and  capital 
defines  the  limits  of  industry.  If  it  withdraws, 
industry  decays  and  activity  diminishes;  and  no 
trade  union,  strike  or  artificial  combination  can 
raise  wages  when  the  supply  of  labour  exceeds  the 
demand. 

Mr.  J.  St.  Loe  Strachey  entitles  one  of  his 
chapters,  "The  richer  the  State,  the  poorer  the 
People."  He  says:  "People  sometimes  talk  as  if 
the  poor  could  be  benefited  by  making  the  State 
richer."  Mr.  St.  Loe  Strachey's  answer  is: 
"There  is  a  certain  amount  of  wealth  in  any  par- 
ticular country.  Hence,  whatever  you  place  in  the 
hands  of  the  State  you  must  take  away  from 
Brown,  Jones  and  Robinson.  You  do  not  increase 
the  total  wealth."  The  entire  Socialist  policy  con- 
sists in  taking  awav  from  individuals  for  oneself 
and  one's  friends.  When  this  policy  is  practised 
by  the  highwayman  in  a  story  with  a  blunderbuss 
in  his  hand,  it  is  called  robbery,  and  the  highway- 
man  is  pursued,  captured,   tried  and  hanged. 

The  Socialists  formulate  a  theory  of  robbery  and 
call  it  restitution  to  the  disinherited.  Disinherited 
by  whom?  Disinherited  of  what?  Let  them  pro- 
duce their  title  deeds  !  They  call  it  expropriation, 
but  that  is  a  misnomer,  what  they  set  out  to  prac- 
tice is  confiscation.  Lender  cover  of  the  laws  and 
in  virtue  of  them,  they  get  themselves  elected  as 
members  of  municipal  bodies  and  legislative  assem- 
blies. In  France,  Belgium,  Germany,  Italy  and 
the  United  vStates  thev  seize  upon  the  constitutional 
and  legal  means  which  are  at  the  disposal  of  every 
citizen  as  they  would  take  a  rifle  or  a  revolver  at  a 
gunsmith's.     Once  they  have  them  in  their  hands 

B 


xviii  PREFACE 

they  use  them  to  put  their  system  of  spoliation  into 
practice,  this  being  the  name  given  to  legaUsed 
robbery.  Instead  of  leading  to  the  gallows,  it  leads 
to  power,  honours,  position  and  wealth.  The 
British  Socialists  adopt  the  ideal  and  carry  out  the 
policy  of  the  Socialists  of  other  countries  with 
remarkable  superiority.  They  rule  the  Liberal 
Party  and,  by  annually  introducing  one  of  their 
postulates  into  legislation,  gain  a  stage  at  each 
attempt. 

In  a  remarkable  volume  published  shortly  before 
his    death    in    1908,    entitled    "English    Socialism 
To-day,"  Mr.  H.  O.  Arnold-Foster  put  this  ques- 
tion :    "Ought  we  to  fight  Socialism?"     And  he 
began  by  saying,  "It  is  a  question  which  it  is  neces- 
sary to  ask."     Can  this  be  so?     Is  there  then  a 
number  of  those  who  desire  liberty  for  the  employ- 
ment of  their  faculties,  their  energy,  their  capacity 
for  work,  and  their  capital  in  accordance  with  their 
wishes  and  in  such  manner  as  they  consider  most 
convenient  to  their  interests,  who  are  not  convinced 
that  they  ought  to  defend  their  liberty  of  action 
against  Socialist  tyranny  ?    Does  a  number  of  those 
who  wish  to  reap  the  benefit  of  their  labour,  their 
efforts  and  of  the  risks  they  have  incurred  admit 
that  the  Socialists  have  a  right  to  deprive  them  of 
it?     How  can  people  entertain  doubts  as  to  their 
right  to  work   and  their   right   to  own    property? 
They  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  hypnotised  by 
Socialistic    fallacies    and   verbiage   until   they   are 
ready  to  obev  injunctions  which  will  forbid  thern  to 
act  without  the  sanction  of  the  Socialist  authority, 
and  command  them  to  surrender  to  that  authority 
their  property,  their  inheritances,  their  savings  and 
the  capital  which  thev  have  acquired. 

Mr.  Arnold-Foster"  replies,  "It  is  necessary  that 
we  should  fight  Socialism,"  and  we  should  do  so 
not  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  our  material 
interests,  but  also  from  that  of  politics  and  of 
morals.     The  triumph  of  Socialism  would  involve  a 


PREFACE  xix 

step  backward  :  for  the  competition  of  parties  exist- 
ing side  by  side,  it  would  substitute  the  social  war; 
it  would  arrest  the  evolutionary  process  which  sub- 
stitutes contract  for  statute,  as  set  forth  bv  Sir 
Henry  Maine,  and  it  would  subordinate  all  actions 
to  the  dispositions  of  authority .^  The  result  would 
be  a  reign  of  slavery  among  the  ruins. 

There  are  people  who  resign  themselves  to  the 
Socialist  invasion,  as  some  Romans  in  the  period 
of  the  decline  of  the  Empire  resigned  themselves  to 
those  of  the  barbarians.  They  say  that  the  Social- 
ists, being  the  more  numerous  (which  is  not  the 
fact)  and  the  stronger  (which  is  open  to  doubt)  are 
possessed  of  the  enthusiasm  of  conquerors  and  must 
prevail.  Wise  and  prudent  folks  therefore  prepare 
to  accommodate  themselves  to  their  tyranny,  and 
are  ready  to  pa}'  court  to  them.  Thev  are  already 
seeking  to  conciliate  the  Socialist  leaders,  salute 
them  politely,  and  assure  them  of  their  readiness 
to  make  every  sacrifice  to  carry  a  sound  Socialism 
into  effect.  By  such  cowardice  they  think  that  they 
are  taking  good  securitv  for  their  own  advantage. 
When  their  backs  are  turned  they  wink  their  eves 
and  nod  their  heads,  as  much  as  to  say  :  "See  what 
sly  fellows  we  are.  The  Socialists  think  that  they  are 
conquering  us,  whereas  it  is  we  who  are  the  con- 
querors. The  best  way  to  annihilate  them  is  to 
give  in  to  them." 

This  haphazard  policy  was  followed  by  a  man 
with  a  reputation  for  vigour  and  perspicacitv. 
Bismarck  attempted  to  switch  off  Marxist  Socialism 
into  a  bureaucratic  Socialism — result,  ,-^,200,000 
Socialist  votes  in  the  elections  to  the  Reichstag  in 
1907  ! 

All  those  who  make  concessions  to  the  Socialists 
weaken  themselves  for  the  Socialists'  advantage. 
The  Socialists  cannot  form  a  portion  of  a  govern- 

1  Yves  Guyot.    "La   D^mocratie  indivicUmliste."     Sir  Henry 
Maine,      "Ancient   Law." 


XX  PREFACE 

merit  majority  because,  their  programme  being  one 
of  conflict  and  of  pillage,  they  impose  it  as  a  con- 
dition of  their  co-operation,  while  the  essential 
attribute  of  the  vState  is  the  maintenance  for  all  of 
internal  and  external  security. 

It  has  been  said  that  a  Socialist  minister  is  not 
a  minister  who  is  a  Socialist.  How  indeed  could 
he  be  ?  As  minister  of  justice,  instead  of  protecting 
property  and  persons,  he  would  have  to  recognise 
no  right  other  than  the  pretensions  of  the  "class" 
which  he  represents;  as  minister  of  finance,  he 
would  have  to  proclaim  the  bankruptcy  of  the  State, 
a  simple  and  practical  means  of  nationalising  debt 
and  abolishing  investors.  A  party,  the  primary 
obligation  of  whose  representatives  on  attaining  to 
power  is  to  disown  their  programme,  can  destroy, 
but  can  construct  nothing.  They  do  not  strengthen 
the  administration  to  which  they  are  admitted,  but 
thev  are  forthwith  excommunicated  by  the  Socialist 
party.  We  have  seen  instances  in  the  case  of  M.M. 
Millerand,  Briand  and  Viviani. 

Even  in  England  the  Labour  Representation 
Committee  refused  to  continue  to  pay  Mr.  John 
Burns  the  allowance  paid  to  Labour  Members  of 
Parliament,  more  than  a  year  before  he  attained  to 
office.  Inasmuch  as  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons  are  unpaid,  the  committee  wanted  to 
force  him  to  accept  assistance  from  the  Liberal 
party  in  order  that  they  might  be  able  to  denounce 
him  as  a  Liberal  hack.^  In  opening  the  Stuttgart 
Congress,  Herr  Bebel  observed  that  the  inclusion 
of  John  Burns  in  the  British  Cabinet  had  not  modi- 
fied the  fighting  tactics  of  the  Labour  Party. 

It  is  a  mistake  to  temporise  with  Socialist 
fallacies;  it  is  necessary  to  expose  their  falsity 
and  their  consequences  instead  of  humbly  saying 
to  those  who  propagate  them,  "Perhaps  you  are 
right,  onlv  possibly  you  are  going  rather  far." 

1  "The   Star,"   February   10th,   1905. 


PREFACE  xxi 

M.  Leon  Say  has  repeatedly  said  that  to  refuse 
to  give  battle  for  fear  of  being  beaten  is  to  accept 
defeat.  In  France,  governments  and  majorities 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  have  acquired  the 
habit  of  yielding  to  the  commands  of  the  General 
Confederation  of  Labour  and  to  the  threats  of 
strikers.  It  will  be  seen  hereafter^  that  this  weak 
policy  has  reduced  the  policy  of  violence  to  a 
system.  At  the  time  of  writing,  the  masons  are 
demanding  kennels  at  the  Labour  Exchange  for 
the  dogs  that  are  trained  to  track  and  hunt  down 
non-strikers  ! 

I  trust  that  the  failure  of  the  general  strike  in 
Sweden,  where  the  Labour  Party  claims  to  be  the 
best  organised  in  the  world, ^  will  have  the  effect  of 
reassuring  the  faint-hearted.  The  leaders  of  the 
Labour  Federation  ordered  a  general  strike  for  the 
morning  of  August  4th,  1909,  and  their  order  was 
obeyed  with  docility  by  250,000  workmen.  The 
butchers,  grocers  and  bakers  found  themselves 
without  clerks  or  workmen.  If  the  railway  em- 
ployees refused  to  run  the  risk  of  losing  their 
pensions  by  breaking  their  contracts  of  labour,  the 
tramway  employees,  who  were  bound  by  a 
collective  contract,  did  not  hesitate  to  tear  it  up. 
The  "Social  Demokrat"  attempted  to  prove  that 
they  were  entitled,  and  that  it  was  their  duty,  to  do 
so  under  conditions  which  created  a  case  of  moral 
force  majeure.  M.  Jaures  on  being  consulted 
replied,  according  to  M.  Branting,  the  leader  of  the 
vSwedish  Socialists,  that  it  was  the  undoubted  duty 
of  the  workmen  to  keep  their  engagements,  but 
that  "this  obligation  could  not  deprive  them  of 
their  legitimate  means  of  defence."^  This  line  of 
argument,  borrowed  from  Escobar,^  did  not  capti- 

1  Infra,  Book  VIII. 

2  Lindley     The   Trade   Union   Congress. 
5  "The   Times,"  September   let,    1909. 

4  A   Spanish  casuist  ■who  advanced  the  proposition  that  "good 
intentions  justify  crimes." 


xxii  PREFACE 

vate  public  opinion.  Various  groups  were 
organised  for  purposes  of  defence.  Noblemen, 
bourgeois,  officers,  students  and  clerks  went  to 
work  as  they  would  have  done  in  the  case  of  a 
besieged  city ;  there  was  no  lack  of  food,  the  roads 
were  swept,  the  hospitals  kept  open  and  order 
secured  against  the  efforts  of  the  strikers  by  the 
public  security  brigade.  The  Labour  Federation 
had  expected  to  turn  over  society  like  an  omelette. 
It  encountered  a  formidable  resistance.  The  popu- 
lation of  Sweden  numbers  5,377,000.  The  250,000 
strikers  who  had  declared  war  upon  their  fellow 
citizens  learned  that  this  majority  had  no  intention 
of  submitting  to  their  good  pleasure. 

The  government  refused  the  part  of  mediator 
which  some  counsellors,  full  of  good  intentions,  but 
wanting  in  perspicacity,  advised  them  to  assume. 
It  did  not  tell  the  nation  at  large  that  it  ought  to 
give  way,  or  advise  the  strikers  not  to  be  too  exact- 
ing. It  contented  itself  with  its  proper  part — that 
of  maintaining  order. 

The  lesson  is  complete.  M.  G.  Sorel,  the 
doctrinaire  member  of  the  French  General  Con- 
federation of  Labour,  without  indulging  in  any 
illusions  as  to  the  possibility  of  a  general  strike, 
advised  the  Socialists  to  employ  it  as  a  myth, 
destined  to  seduce  the  ignorant  and  credulous 
masses.  In  order  that  they  might  continue  to 
exploit  it,  they  should  have  kept  it  alive  in  people's 
imaginations,  and  should  not  have  attempted  to 
introduce  it  into  real  life.  The  bogey  became 
ridiculous  when  its  inventors  tried  to  materalise  it. 
They  have  had  an  opportunity  of  seeing  that  the 
bourgeoisie  does  not  allow  itself  to  be  plundered 
as  easily  as  they  imagined.^ 

Economic  ignorance  is  a  far  more  powerful 
factor  in  Socialism  than  cowardice.  *Tt  is  much 
about  the  same  from  top  to  bottom  of  the  social 

1  See   infra,   Book   VIII.,   chap.   ix. 


PREFACE  xxiii 

ladder,"  said  M.  Louis  Strauss  recently,  the 
distinguished  president  of  the  Belgian  Conseil 
Superieur  du  Commerce  et  de  I'lndustrie.  By 
reason  of  this  ignorance  a  number  of  grown-up 
children,  who  fancy  themselves  to  be  mature 
citizens,  believe  that  the  State  can  fix  wages  and 
the  hours  of  labour,  turn  the  employer  out  of  his 
undertaking  and  replace  him  by  inspectors,  and 
secure  markets  for  commodities,  while  raising  their 
net  cost  according  to  the  whims  of  parliamentary 
majorities. 

In  this  book  I  have  set  forth  economic  facts 
which  everyone  is  in  a  position  to  verify  for  him- 
self. It  is  a  manual  for  the  use  of  all  who  are 
desirous  of  calling  themselves  familiar  with  the 
question,  including  Socialists  who  hold  their 
opinions  in  good  faith. 

Yves  Guyot. 

September,  igog. 


BOOK    I 

UTOPIAS    AND    COMMUNISTIC 
EXPERIMENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

Plato's  Romance 

Politico-ecouomic  romances — Commou  features — Govern- 
ment by  the  wisest :  abolition  of  private  interest — 
Castes — Plato  and  the  warrior  caste — Conception 
realised  by  the  Mamelukes  in  Egypt — Police— Xeno- 
phon  —  Plotinus  —  Monasteries,  their  principles : 
separation  of  the  sexes,  contributions  of  the  faithful. 

Von  KiRCHENHEiM,  ill  his  book  "Die  ewige 
Utopie,"  has  traced  the  history  ot  politico- 
economic  romances  after  Sudre,  Reybaud,  Moll 
and  others.  These  works  all  present  a  family  like- 
ness and  are  founded  on  the  ancient  conception  ot 
a  golden  age,  an  Eden,  an  ideal  existing  in  a  far 
distant  past — a  conception  which  survives  in  such 
writers  as  Karl  Marx,  Engels  and  Paul  Lafargue, 
who  would  have  all  the  ills  of  humanity  date  from 
the  moment  when  the  communism  of  primitive 
societies  came  to  an  end.  All  these  conceptions  seek 
to  confer  the  governing  power  upon  the  wisest : 
Plato  gives  it  to  the  philosophers,  and  the  same 
idea  reappears  in  Auguste  Comte.  They  are  all 
founded  upon  the  suppression  of  private  interest 
as  the  motive  of  human  actions,  and  the  substitu- 
tion of  altruism  (to  use  the  word  coined  by  Auguste 
Comte),  to  attain  which  their  authors  abolish  pri- 
vate property,  and  those  among  them  who  are 
logical  set  up  the  community  of  women. 

Nearly  all  these  writers  constitute  castes.  Plato 
proclaims  the  necessity  of  slavery  and  declares  that 
the  occupations  of  a  shoemaker  and  a  blacksmith 
degrade  those  who  follow  them.  Labourers, 
artisans,  and  traders  form  £i  caste  \\'hose  duty  it  is 
to  produce  for  warriors  and  philosophers  and  to 
obey  them.  In  the  "Republic"  the  caste  of  warriors 
only  possesses  property  collectively,  the  abolition 
of  private  property  being  in  Plato's  opinion  the 
best  means  of  preventing  the  abuse  of  power.    The 


28  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

annual  unions  between  men  and  women  are  to  be 
decided  by  lot,  controlled  by  expert  magistrates, 
careful  to  ensure  the  most  favourable  conditions 
for  the  reproduction  of  the  species,  the  army  being 
treated  like  a  stud. 

We  saw  a  caste  organisation  of  this  kind  for 
three  centuries  in  Egypt,  a  college  of  Ulemas  and 
a  corps  of  Mamelukes  recruited  from  among  chil- 
dren with  no  family  ties,  all  exploiting  the  miser- 
able fellahs  until  they  were  completely  exhausted. 

In  his  "Laws,"  in  which  he  attempts  to  work  out 
his  conception  in  detail,  Plato  fixes  the  number  of 
citizens  at  5,040,  each  with  a  share  in  the  public 
lands,  the  equal  produce  of  which  is  sufficient  to 
support  one  family.  These  lands  are  indivisible 
and  inalienable,  and  are  transmitted  by  hereditary 
succession  to  the  son  who  is  appointed  to  receive 
them.  The  State  is  divided,  in  honour  of  the 
twelve  months  of  the  year,  into  twelve  districts,  in 
which  numerous  officials,  as  well  as  the  councils, 
reside.  The  police  enter  into  the  minutest  details 
of  the  life  of  every  individual ;  until  the  age  of  forty 
travelling  is  forbidden.  The  police  must  see 
to  it  that  the  number  of  citizens  shall  neither  in- 
crease nor  diminish.  The  industrial  occupations 
are  followed  by  slaves  controlled  by  a  class  of  free 
labourers  without  political  rights;  commerce  is  left 
to  strangers.  A  citizen  of  the  Platonic  city  may 
not  possess  precious  metals  or  lend  out  money  at 
interest.  Moreover,  if  Plato,  in  order  to  put  his 
conceptions  of  the  State  into  practice,  reverts  to 
individual  property,  he  continues  to  proclaim  that 
"the  community  of  women  and  children  and  of 
property  in  which  the  private  and  the  individual  is 
altogether  banished  from  life"^  is  the  highest  form 
of  the  State  and  of  virtue. 

Plato's  speculations  exercised  no  influence  upon 
the  legislation  and  the  politics  of  antiquity. 

(1)   Plato,   Laws  v.   739   (Jowett's   translation). 


PLATO'S  ROMANCE  29 

Xenophon,  on  the  contrary,  set  forth  the  concep- 
tion of  an  ideal  monarchy  in  the  Cyropaedia, 
everything  being  conceived  upon  a  utilitarian 
basis. 

Three  centuries  after  Christ,  Plotinus,  who  was 
ashamed  of  having  a  body,  and  desired  to  free  the 
divine  element  which  was  in  him,  dreamed  of 
founding  in  Campania  a  State  upon  the  model  con- 
ceived by  Plato — this  desire  remained  in  the  region 
of  dreams. 

Communism  was  only  carried  out  in  monas- 
teries, whose  existence  was  based  upon  the  two 
principles  of  separation  of  the  sexes  and  contribu- 
tions of  the  faithful. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Kingdom  of  the  Incas 
The  Incas,  children  and  priests  of  the  sun— A  military 
theocracy.  —Administrative     organisation— Police- 
Marriage— Common  labour— The  Kingdom  in  disso- 
lution after  the  landing  of  Pizarro. 

Ix    South   America    an    organisation    existed    for 
several  centuries  to  which  true  Socialists  still  point 
as  an    ideal.     In    the   sixteenth    century   Garcilaso 
de   la   Vega,    a   Spaniard,    wrote  a   history   of   the 
Incas,  so  full  of  admiration  for  them  that  he  made 
their  power  extend  back   for  thousands  of  years, 
whereas     at     the     time     of     the     landing    of     the 
Spaniards   their  empire   only   dated  back   for   five 
hundred  years.     They  are  looked  upon  as  a  clan 
of  the  race  of  Aymara,i  which  has  left  the  great 
ruins  of  Tiahuanaco  on  the  shores  of  Lake  Titicaca.2 
They  created  the  legend  of  Inti,  the  sun-god,  who, 
out  of  pity  for  the  savage  denizens  of  the  moun- 
tains of  Peru  sent  them  his  son  Manco  Capak  and 
his  sister  and  wife,   Mama  Ocllo.      These  taught 
men    to    build    houses    and    women    and    girls    to 
weave.     At  first  their  power  did  not  extend'bevond 
the    kingdom    of    Cuzco,    confined    within    naVrow 
limits.       The    fourth    of    the    Inca    kings,     Malta 
Capak,  was  the  conqueror  of  Alcaziva,  a  descend- 
ant   of    the    vassal-chiefs    of    Cuzxo.        His    three 
successors  extended  their  dominions  by  conquest. 
They    constituted    a    warrior    caste  with  the  com- 
batants  from    the   conquered   peoples   whom    they 
dispossessed,   and    in    order    to    emplov    it    their 
successors   added   to   their  conquests.     'They   did 
not  fall  upon  their  enemies  :   they  demanded"  their 
submission,      and     frequently     on      obtaining     it 
they  made  a  vassal  of  a  conquered  chief.      They 

1  In   my  book,   "La   Propriete,"  I  reproduced  the  hypothesis 
that  the  Incas  Mere  of  an  alien  race. 

2  "The   Workl's   History,"    edited    bv    Dr.    H.    F.    Helmolt. 
Vol.  1.     The  Prehistoric  World:  America,  p.  315. 


THE   KINGDOM   OF  THE   INCAS       31 

secured  their  authority  by  means  of  garrisons, 
and  estabHshed  large  victualling  depots  for  their 
soldiers.  The  rule  of  the  Incas  was  not  preserved 
from  trouble ;  in  spite  of  all  their  efforts  their  power 
met  with  resistance  and  provoked  revolt. 

One  of  its  characteristics  was  that  it  was  a 
military  theocracy.  The  Inca,  son  and  priest  of 
the  sun,  was  the  absolute  master  of  person  and 
of  propertv,  of  act  and  of  will.  He  was  the  sole 
holder  of  property,  but  he  had  divided  the  soil 
into  three  portions  between  sun,  Inca  and  sub- 
jects. He  was  also  the  sole  owner  of  the  flocks 
of  llamas.  Officials  collected  the  w^ool  and 
distributed  it  among  those  who  were  charged  with 
stapling  it ;  thev  slaughtered  sufficient  llamas  to 
support  the  Inca.  The  mines  of  gold  and  silver 
were  developed  for  the  benefit  of  the  Inca,  but, 
inasmuch  as  there  was  no  commerce,  the  precious 
metals  were  used  onlv  for  ornament. 

There  were  no  taxes,  the  entire  labour  of  each 
individual  being  due  to  the  State.  A  piece  of 
land  was  allotted  to  each  family,  which  consisted 
of  ten  persons.  The  original  portion  was  increased 
bv  one  half  at  the  birth  of  each  son  and  by  a 
quarter  at  the  birth  of  a  daughter.  It  constituted 
the  administrative  unit,  and  an  official  was  told 
off  for  the  purpose  of  taking  care  of  it  and  of 
supervision.  Ten  families  formed  a  group  of  one 
hundred  occupiers  and  of  ten  officials  under  the 
supervision  of  a  chief.  Next  came  ten  limes  a 
hundred  families  and  ten  times  a  hundred  officials, 
and  ten  thousand  families,  with  a  like  number  of 
officials,  constituted  a  province.  The  governors 
of  a  province,  who  were,  as  far  as  nossible,  mem- 
bers of  the  familv  of  the  Incas,  and  the  principal 
overseers  of  the  smaller  groups  were  bound  to 
appear  at  the  court  of  the  Inca  from  time  to 
time  and  to  transmit  reports  regularly.  They 
were  under  the  constant  supervision  of  inspectors, 
and  when  a  family  was  in  default,  it  was  punished, 


32  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

as  were  also  its  overseers  of  different  degrees  who 
had  failed  to  exact  its  obedience. 

Everyone,  both  male  and  female,  was  compelled 
to  work.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five  it  became  the 
duty  of  the  young  Peruvian  to  marry,  a  day  in 
each  year  being  consecrated  to  this  ceremony. 
The  officials  pointed  out  to  each  youth  the  maiden 
whom  they  decided  to  bestow  upon  him ;  a  piece 
of  land  with  a  house  was  allotted  to  them,  and 
when  the  province  was  already  too  populous,  they 
were  sent  to  new  territories.  The  young  men 
were  liable  to  military  service,  while  a  number  of 
young  girls  were  selected  to  work  in  monasteries 
in  which  they  were  bound  over  to  chastity  under 
penalty  of  death.  The  lands  of  the  sun  and  of 
the  Inca  were  cultivated  in  common  as  State 
lands.  The  overseers  conducted  those  over  whom 
they  had  jurisdiction  to  labour  as  though  to  a 
festival,  but  they  first  flogged  and  afterwards 
hanged  them  if  they  refused  to  perform  their  share 
of  the  work.  The  same  punishment  was  inflicted 
upon  anyone  who  ventured  to  cease  work  without 
permission  ;  old  men  and  children  were  obliged  to 
supply  their  contingent.  Yet  the  Incas  made  no 
attempt  to  introduce  this  system  in  all  the 
provinces  which  thev  had  conquered. 

The  Spaniards  landed  in  America  during  the 
period  when  Huacna  Capak  was  occupied  in 
reducing  Quito,  where  he  forgot  his  wife  and  his 
son  Thrascar  and  violated  the  law  of  the  Incas 
by  taking  to  wife  a  woman  who  was  not  of  their 
race.  By  her  he  had  a  son,  Atahualpa,  who 
became  his  favourite,  and  to  whom  he  bequeathed 
the  Kingdom  of  Quito,  the  Kingdom  of  Cuzco 
falling  to  Thrascar.  A  quarrel  broke  out : 
iVtahualpa  descended  upon  Cuzco  with  his 
warriors,  gained  a  victory  and  put  the  Incas  to 
the  sword.  When  Pizarro  landed  in  Peru  he 
found  the  country  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  which 
explains  the  ease  with  which  he  succeeded. 


CHAPTER    III 

Sir  Thomas  More's  "Utopia"  and  its 
Applications 

i.  Sir  Thomas  More — Sources  of  his  Utojna — its  sym- 
metry— Propaganda  by  university  and  clergy. 

ii.  Influence  of  More's  book  upon  Thomas  Munzer — 
Rising  of  Mulhouse. 

iii.  The  Anabaptists — Mathias — John  of  Leydeu — Com- 
mon characteristics —  Absolute  supremacy  of  a 
prophet  and  of  the  mob — Internal  dissensions. 

I. 

Thomas  More,  Chancellor  of  England,  published 
his  Utopia  at  Louvain  in  15 16.  The  book  consists 
of  a  critical  part  dealing  with  the  government  of 
England  and  contemporary  politics,  and  of  a  part 
setting  forth  the  organisation  of  a  communistic 
society.  More  was  familiar  with  the  humanists 
from  whom  he  drew  his  inspiration  as  well  as  with 
the  travels  of  Columbus,  of  Peter  Martyr  and  of 
Amerigo  Vespucci.  Columbus  had  spoken  of 
pe(3ples  who  held  everything  in  common,  living 
under  the  unlimited  authority  of  a  cacique,  who 
spoke  in  the  name  of  a  divinity.  Amerigo 
Vespucci  had  seen  peoples  living  in  a  more  or  less 
anarchical  state  of  communism,  huddled  in  large 
barns  containing  some  hundreds  of  persons. 

More  proceeded  to  trace  the  ideal  of  what  Paul 
Laf argue  calls  the  return  of  communism.  There 
are  too  many  poor  people  in  Europe.  To  abolish 
property  is  to  abolish  the  difference  between  poor 
and  rich.  The  Utopians  conclude  that  this  will 
be  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor.  The  inference  does 
not  follow,  for  the  abolition  of  property  cannot  be 
a  factor  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth. 

More  sets  out  in  his  comfortable  fashion  the 
geography  of  the  Isle  of  Utopia.  He  places  therein 
fifty-four  cities,  all  built  upon  the  same  plan  and 
with   identical  institutions;  a  territory  of  not  less 

C 


34  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

than  twenty  miles  square  in  extent,  the  duty  of  cul- 
tivating which  is  apportioned  between  a  certain 
number  of  families,  is  attached  to  each  town  :  each 
family  consists  of  no  fewer  than  forty  men  and 
women  and  of  two  bondmen.  Every  year  twenty 
citizens  who  have  spent  two  years  in  cultivating  the 
land  return  to  the  town  and  are  replaced  by  twenty 
others.  All  the  inhabitants  of  Utopia,  both  men  and 
women,  labour,  but  onlv  for  six  hours  a  day.  They 
have  few  wants,  their  clothing  is  made  of  leather 
and  skins  which  will  last  for  seven  years.  Their 
meals  are  taken  in  common,  the  women  being 
seated  opposite  to  the  men.  Travelling  is 
rendered  almost  impossible.  Every  town  is  to 
contain  six  thousand  families  :  when  a  particular 
family  is  too  rich  in  children,  it  bestows  some  of 
them  upon  those  which  have  not  enough. 
Marriage  is  surrounded  with  formalities;  the 
community  of  women  is  unknown,  and  adultery 
involves  slavery. 

The  form  of  government  consists  of  a  prince 
elected  for  life  and  of  a  body  of  magistrates  and 
officers  elected  for  one  year.  The  Utopians  are 
m.en  of  peace,  but  they  make  war  at  need  and 
employ  mercenaries  to  carry  it  on.  Religious 
liberty  is  established,  but  whosoever  does  not 
believe  in  the  existence  of  Providence  and  in  the 
immortality  of  the  soul  is  incapable  of  receiving 
employment. 

These  visions  have  been  translated,  re-edited 
and  propagated.  When  I  was  seven  years  old, 
just  after  the  revolution  of  1848,  I  was  given  as 
a  prize  a  book  approved  by  the  Archbishop  of 
Tours,  a  Life  of  Sir  Thomas  More,  with  the 
description  of  Utopia  in  an  appendix.  Yet  the 
university  and  clergy  who  circulated  this  work 
must  have  known  that  it  had  translated  itself  into 
acts  of  fury  within  a  very  few  years  of  its 
publication. 


SIR  THOMAS  MORE'S  "UTOPIA"      35 

II. 

In    1525   Thomas    Miinzer,    a    Protestant   pastor 
in  Saxony,  at  the  suggestion  of  his  master,  Storch, 
who    was    inspired    by    the    Bible    and    bv    More, 
attempted     to     put     the    "Utopia"    into     practice. 
After  having  attempted  to  cause  a  rising  in  Suabia, 
Franconia  and  Alsace,  he  succeeded  in  driving  out 
the  town  council  of  Miihlhausen  ar.ci  in   installing 
himself  in  the  Johannisterhof  on  March  17th,  1525, 
The    rich  were    commanded    to    feed    and    clothe 
the  poor  and  to  provide  them  with  seeds  and  with 
land  upon  which  they  might  work  :    the  majority 
of  them   fled,   as  is  usual   with   them   at   times  of 
crisis.     Thomas   Miinzer  spoke  as  a  prophet  and 
dealt  out  justice  with   the   freedom   of  a  delegate 
of  Heaven.     He  sought  to  raise  the  miners  of  the 
Erzgebirge  by  telling  them  to  rise  and  fight  the 
battle  of  the  Lord.     "If  you  do  not  slay,  you  will 
be  slain.     It  is  impossible  to  speak  to  you  of  God 
so  long  as  a  noble  or  a  priest  remains  upon  earth." 
Miinzer  sallied  forth  from  Miihlhausen  at  the  head 
of  a  kind  of  army.     He  mounted  a  black  charger 
and  was  preceded  by  a  white  banner,  upon  which 
shone    a    rainbow.     His    bands    laid    waste    and 
massacred  throughout  their  career  :  after  an  initial 
defeat   at    Fulda,    they   were   destroyed  at  a   place 
which  has  since  been  known  as  the  Schlachtberg 
(Battle     Mountain),     despite     the     invocations     of 
Miinzer  to  the  Lord.     Miinzer  himself  was  taken, 
tortured  and  beheaded. 

III. 

Miinzer  left  behind  him  Anabaptists,  who 
scattered  themselves  over  Switzerland,  Moravia, 
the  Low  Countries,  and  North-West  Germany.  A 
baker  of  Haarlem,  called  Mathias,  in  a  book 
entitled  "La  Restauration,"  declared  that  every 
human  individual  must  be  regenerated  by  means 
of  a  new  baptism,  that  princes,  taxes  and  the 
administration  of  justice  must  be  suppressed,  and 


36  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

polygamy  and  the  community  of  goods  estab- 
lished. The  Anabaptists  inaugurated  their  rule 
at  Munster  on  February  ist,  15,34.  They  com- 
menced by  demolishing  the  church  towers,  for 
greatness  must  be  laid  low,  and  in  burning  the 
holy  images.  They  commanded  everyone  under 
pain  of  death  to  come  and  deposit  their  money  and 
articles  of  value  at  a  given  house.  The  doors  of 
the  houses  were  to  be  left  open  day  and  night, 
but  they  might  be  protected  by  a  small  railing 
in  order  to  preserve  them  from  invasion  by  the 
pigs  which  swarmed  in  the  streets. 

Mathias  having  been  killed  in  an  attack  upon 
the  troops  of  the  Duke  of  Gueldres,  a  former  inn- 
keeper of  Ley  den,  known  as  John  of  Ley  den, 
affirmed  that  his  death  was  a  sign  of  the  grace 
conferred  by  God  upon  his  prophet,  claimed  to 
b'^  inspired  by  the  Bible,  entered  into  communion 
v/ith  the  vSpirit  of  God,  and  in  the  first  instance 
nominated  twelve  judges  of  the  people,  following 
the  example  of  the  Judges  of  Israel ;  but  on 
encountering  some  opposition  among  them  he 
declared  that  God  in  a  fresh  revelation  had  com- 
manded him  to  assume  absolute  power  and  to 
become  the  king  of  the  New  Zion.  A  comrade 
called  Tuschocheirer,  perhaps  in  good  faith, 
declared  that  God  Himself  had  confirmed  to  him 
His  command  given  to  John  of  Leyden  to  ascend 
the  throne  of  David,  to  draw  the  holy  sword 
against  kings,  to  extend  His  kingdom  throughout 
the  world,  giving  bread  to  those  who  submitted 
and  death  to  those  who  resisted.  In  order  to  con- 
tend with  the  kings  he  anointed  himself  as  King 
of  the  New  Zion,  arrayed  himself  in  a  robe  made 
out  of  the  silver  embroideries  of  the  churches,  and 
a  coat  picked  out  with  pieces  of  purple  and 
decorated  with  shoulder  knots  of  gold,  put  on  a 
golden  crown  and  a  cap  studded  with  precious 
stones,  and  displayed  upon  his  breast  a  magnifi- 


SIR  THOMAS  MORE'S  "UTOPIA"      37 

cent  chain  supporting  a  symbolic  globe  which 
bore  the  inscription,  "King  of  justice  on  earth." 
He  never  appeared  without  an  escort  with  richly- 
caparisoned  horses,  and  installed  himself  on  a 
throne  set  up  in  the  public  square,  where  he 
combined  the  functions  of  legislator  and  of  judge. 

He  married  fifteen  wives.  For  had  not  Solomon 
many  wives  ?  And  is  not  the  first  commandment 
of  God  crescite  et  -tnultiplicmnini?  How  could  a 
monogamist  observe  this  commandment  during 
the  pregnancy  of  his  w  ife  ?  Upon  one  of  his 
wives  failing  in  respect,  he  tried,  condemned 
and  executed  her  himself,  and  danced  before  her 
corpse  with  his  other  wives  in  imitation  of  David, 
while  the  rabble  followed  suit  to  the  cry  of  "  Gloria 
in  excelsis!" 

I'he  Anabaptists  were  defeated  and  massacred 
at  Amsterdam:  Famine  raged  at  Munster;  on 
June  25th,  1535,  the  troops  of  the  Bishop  of  Mun- 
ster entered  the  town  and  the  orgies  of  the  Ana- 
baptists were  succeeded  by  those  of  the  forces  of 
order.  John  of  Leyden  was  put  to  the  torture, 
exhibited  in  an  iron  cage,  which  may  still  be  seen, 
and  was  finally  executed  on  January  22nd,  1536.  At 
the  end  of  ten  years  the  Anabaptists,  who  had 
proposed  to  conquer  the  world,  were  crushed, 
massacred  and  scattered  abroad.  These  commun- 
ists had  found  at  Miihlhausen  and  at  Munster  but 
one  form  of  government — the  absolute  rule  of  a 
prophet  and  under  him  nothing  but  a  mob  and  a 
rabble. 

After  their  fall  the  Anabaptists  founded  com- 
munities in  Moravia  in  true  monastic  form, 
although  marriage  was  permitted.  They  were 
obliged  to  labour  even  on  Sundays,  and  to  preserve 
perpetual  silence.  These  people,  surrounded  as 
they  were  by  enemies,  found  occasion  to  dispute 
among    themselves  :     they    excommunicated     one 

208050 


38  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

another,  and  when  they  were  not  disputing  they 
gave  way  to  intoxication,  all  of  them  striving  to 
escape  from  the  terrible  oppression  resulting  from 
their  communism. ^ 


CHAPTER     IV 

Andre.^-  axd  Campanella 

I 

i       Andreje  and  the  Universal  ('/in'sf/'a))  Republic. 

ii.  Campanella,  the  Domiuicaa,  and  the  Vivitas  So/is — 
Powers  and  duties  of  ministers — The  minister  of 
eugenics — A  convent  with  sexual  promiscuity. 

Jean  V'^alentin  Akdre.«,  a  Protestant  pastor, 
published  in  1620  a  "Description  of  the  L^niversal 
Christian  Republic,"  in  which  he  re-models 
More's  "Utopia"  from  the  Protestant  point  of 
view.  The  authority  of  government  is  in  the 
hands  of  a  pontiff,  a  judge  and  a  minister  of 
science.  He  reasserts  in  all  the  appropriate 
accents  the  return  to  God  and  the  absorption  in 
the  grace  of  Christ. 

In  the  same  year  a  Dominican  born  in  Calabria 
who,  being  accused  of  conspiring  aq-ainst  Spanish 
sovereignty  and  of  other  crimes,  had  passed  more 
than  twenty-five  years  in  the  prisons  of  Naples, 
and  had  three  times  suffered  torture,  published 
the  "Civitas  Solis."  In  this  work  the  govern- 
ment is  entrusted  to  a  prince-priest  named  Hob, 
with    three    ministers    under   him  :    Pan,    Sin    and 

1  F.  Catron.  "Ilisto're  dn  fanatisme  ties  religion.^  protes- 
tantes.  et  de  TAnabapti-sme" — Henri  Olten,  "Le  Tumidte  des 
Anabaptistes" — Guy  de  Bres,  "La  Racine,  source  et  fondement 
des  Anabaptistes." 


ANDRE.^  AND  CAlMPANELLA         39 

Mor,  charged  respectively  with  war,  with  science, 
and  with  everything  that  concerns  generation  and 
the  maintenance  of  Hfe.  Von  Kirchenheim  re- 
marks with  astonishment  that  these  are  the  first 
ministers  of  special  departments  known  in  the 
history  of  politics. 

II 

Campanella  boldly  accepts  communism — living 
in  common  and  community  of  women  and  of 
children.  The  minister  Mor,  with  the  assistance 
of  subordinates  of  either  sex,  selects  the  parties  to 
every  marriage,  and  after  taking  the  opinions  of 
astrologers,  directs  the  day  and  the  hour  at  which 
they  are  to  procreate  their  offspring.  From  the 
time  when  they  are  weaned,  children  are  brought 
up  in  common.  Campanella  has  them  instructed  in 
a  particular  manner.  The  work  of  adults  is  re- 
duced to  four  hours  a  day  and  is  directed  by 
officials  with  the  right  to  inflict  punishment. 
Jurisdiction  is  solely  of  a  criminal  nature,  as  there 
cannot  be  civil  disputes.  Once  a  year  everyone 
must  confess.  Meals  are  taken  in  common,  the 
use  of  wine  being  forbidden. 

Campanella  commenced  by  putting  forward  the 
feelings  of  honour  and  of  duty  as  sufficient 
motives  for  right  conduct ;  he  ends  with  penal 
sanctions.  His  conception  of  society  is  that  of 
a  monastic  institution  which  permits  of  sexual 
promiscuity. 

In  his  "De  Monarchia  Hispanica"  he  sets  out 
a  scheme  of  universal  monarchy  under  the  suze- 
rainty of  the  Pope,  supported  by  the  military 
power  of  Spain.  y\ll  the  peoples  of  Europe  will 
be  one,  heretics  will  be  exterminated,  peace  will 
prevail  on  earth  and  the  community  of  property 
will  entirely  suppress  poverty. 


CHAPTER    V 

Paraguay 

Paraguay — Jesuit  recruiting — Absence  of  civil  and 
criminal  legislation — Private  property — Religious 
worship — Common  meals — Clothes  and  lodging — 
Corregidors  as  police — Confusion  of  moral  and  civil 
order — Absence  of  commerce — Misery  and  idleness. 

At  the  time  when  Campanella's  book  appeared, 
the  Jesuits  were  putting  its  principles  into  practice 
in  Paraguay.  They  had  obtained  certain 
privileges  from  Philip  III.,  but  Diego  Martin 
Neyroni,  the  Governor  of  the  Spanish  possessions 
from  1601  to  161 5,  drove  them  back  into  the 
countries  of  Guaycuru  and  Guarani,  where  they 
succeeded  in  becoming  independent  of  the  Spanish 
viceroys  and  in  refusing  to  tolerate  the  presence 
of  any  Spaniard.  They  found  there  a  population 
accommodating  enough  to  submit  to  a  discipline 
under  which  a  few  hundred  Jesuits  were  enabled 
to  govern  a  territory  extending  from  the  Andes  to 
the  Portuguese  possessions  in  Brazil,  comprising 
the  valley  of  Paraguay  and  part  of  the  valleys  of 
Parana  and  of  Uruguay,  and  covering  an  area  of 
four  or  five  times  the  size  of  France. 

In  addition  to  their  central  establishment  they 
had  thirty-one  others,  which  they  called  "Reduc- 
tions." 

According  to  Alexander  von  Humboldt,  the 
Jesuits  proceeded  to  the  conquest  of  souls  by  fling- 
ing themselves  upon  the  tribe  they  selected, 
setting  fire  to  their  huts  and  taking  away  as 
prisoners  men,  women  and  children.  They  then 
distributed  them  among  their  missions,  taking 
care  to  separate  them  in  order  to  prevent  them 
from  combining.^  These  prisoners  were  slaves, 
of  whom    the    house   of   Cordova    possessed   three 

1  "Voyage  aux  regions  Equinoxales,"  vol.  vi.,  book  vii.,  ch.  19. 


PARAGUAY  41 

thousand    five  hundred    at    the  time    of    the  sup- 
pression of  the  Order. 

Conversions  were  effected  with  great  despatch 
by  touching  the  converts  with  damp  linen.  The 
baptism  being  then  complete,  they  sent  the  certifi- 
cates to  Rome.  Each  tribe  had  two  rulers,  a 
senior  who  was  concerned  with  the  temporal 
administration,  and  a  vicar  who  carried  out  the 
spiritual  functions.^ 

They  did  not  establish  any  system  of  municipal 
laws,  for  which  there  was  no  necessity,  either  to 
regulate  the  condition  of  families  (for  there  was 
no  right  of  succession  and  all  children  were  sup- 
ported at  the  charges  of  the  Society)  or  to 
determine  the  nature  and  the  division  of  property, 
all  of  which  was  held  in  common.  Neither  was 
there  any  criminal  legislation,  the  Jesuit  fathers 
correcting  the  Indians  under  no  rules  other  than 
their  own  wills,  tempered  by  custom. 

Although  labour  in  common  was  the  rule,  the 
Jesuits  were  obliged  to  make  some  concession  to 
the  desire  for  private  property  and  to  the  need  for 
personal  service.  They  therefore  granted  a  small 
piece  of  land  to  each  family  with  liberty  to  culti- 
vate it  on  two  days  in  each  week.  They  also  gave 
occasional  permission  to  the  men  to  go  hunting 
or  fishing  on  condition  of  their  making  the  heads 
of  the  mission  presents  of  game  or  of  fish. 

Two  hours  of  every  day  were  set  apart  for 
prayers  and  seven  for  work,  except  on  Sundays, 
when  prayers  occupied  four  or  five  hours.  Every 
morning  before  daybreak  the  entire  population, 
including  infants  who  were  hardly  weaned, 
assembled  at  church  for  hymns  and  prayers,  and 
the  roll  was  called,  after  which  everyone  kissed 
the  hands  of  the  missionary.  Some  were  then 
taken  by  native  chiefs  to  labour  in  the  fields 
and  others  to  the  workshops.     The  women  had  to 

1  Charles  Comte,  "Traite  de  la  Legielation,"  vol.  iv.,  p.  464. 


42  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

roast  sufficient  corn  for  the  needs  of  the  day  and 
to  spin  an  ounce  of  cotton. 

Every  morning  during  mass  broth  was  made 
of  barley  meal,  without  fat  or  salt,  in  large  cauld- 
rons placed  in  the  middle  of  the  public  square. 
Rations  were  taken  to  the  dwellers  in  each  hut  in 
vessels  made  of  bark,  and  the  sqrapings  were 
divided  among  the  children  who  had  acquitted 
themselves  best  in  their  catechism.  At  midday 
more  broth  was  distributed,  a  little  thicker  than 
that  which  was  supplied  in  the  morning,  contain- 
ing a  mixture  of  flour,  maize,  peas  and  beans. 
The  Indians  then  resumed  their  work,  and  on  their 
return  kissed  the  hand  of  the  priest  and  received 
a  further  ration  of  broth  similar  to  that  of  which 
they  had  partaken  in  the  morning.  Although 
cattle  were  plentiful,  according  to  some  accounts, 
meat  was  only  distributed  in  exceptional  cases  or  to 
men  who  were  at  work ;  according  to  others  it  was 
distributed  daily.  Probably  each  "Reduction" 
followed  its  own  particular  svstem  according  to 
the  amount  of  its  resources.  Salt  was  scarce,  a 
small  bowl  being  served  out  to  each  family  on 
Sundays. 

Regulations  fixed  the  amount  of  cloth,  which 
was  given  annually,  to  men  at  six  "varas"  (five 
yards)  and  to  women  at  five  "varas."  This  they 
made  into  a  kind  of  shirt  which  covered  them  very 
indifferently.  They  had  neither  drawers,  shoes, 
nor  hats.  Children  of  either  sex  went  naked  until 
they  attained  the  age  of  nine. 

Their  huts,  which  were  very  small  and  low, 
were  round.  The  framework  consisted  of  posts 
driven  into  the  ground  and  joined  at  the  tops, 
trusses  of  straw  being  spread  upon  them  to  protect 
the  inside.  The  inhabitants  were  crowded  into 
them  to  the  number  of  fifteen  for  each  hut,  of 
which  an  accumulation  formed  a  town.  There 
were   no  dwellers   in   the  open  country,   owing  to 


PARAGUAY  43 

the  difficulties  of  supervision.  In  the  centre  of 
a  town  stood  the  church,  and  beside  it  were  the 
college  of  the  fathers,  the  stores  and  the  work- 
shops. The  streets  were  regularly  laid  out  and 
planted  with  trees,  and  each  town  was  encircled  by 
an  impenetrable  hedge  of  cactus.  The  church  was 
built  with  the  sham  elaboration  and  filled  with 
the  tinsel  which  are  the  characteristics  of  Jesuit 
art.  iMusic  was  performed  in  them,  choirs 
organised,  and  religious  exercises  practised,  among 
which  self-flagellations,  to  which  women  and  girls 
submitted  themselves,  crowns  of  thorns,  and 
positions  representing  crucifixions  were  to  strike 
the  imaginations  of  the  natives. 

The  Jesuits  selected  from  among  their  own 
members  corregidors  to  watch  over  conduct,  to 
supervise  the  regular  performance  of  the  religious 
ceremonies  and  to  direct  and  control  labour. 
These  held  office  for  two  years.  A  native  was 
never  elevated  to  the  dignity  of  a  priest.  The 
Jesuits  solemnised  marriages  twice  a  year,  but  the 
community  of  goods  had  a  sinister  influence  in 
encouraging  the  community  of  women. 

The  fathers  were  the  guardians  of  virtue  as  of 
everything  else.  Of  their  manner  of  exercising 
their  functions  I  will  only  quote  from  Bougain- 
ville, who  was  at  Buenos  Ayres  at  the  time  of  the 
expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  this  passage:  "My  pen 
refuses  to  record  the  details  of  what  the  people 
allege.  The  passions  aroused  are  still  too  recent 
to  allow  of  the  possibility  of  distinguishing  the 
false  charges  from  the  true."^  Clearly  it  was  not 
respect  for  the  native  women  and  girls  that  could 
restrain  the  fathers,  and  we  perceive  once  again 
the  danger  of  confounding  moral  order  with  that 
which  is  imposed  by  legal  institutions.  The 
former  had  put  an  end  to  the  latter,  and  there  was 
no    security    either    for    person    or    for    property. 

1  Bougainville,  vol.   i.,  pp.   196-197. 


44  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Every  Jesuit  was  at  one  and  the  same  time  con- 
fessor, legislator  and  judge,  and  if  he  despised 
the  office  of  executioner  he  nevertheless  superin- 
tended the  process  of  execution. 

The  Jesuits  converted  every  Indian  into  an 
informer  at  the  moment  when  he  made  confession, 
and  when  one  of  those  whose  confession  had 
previously  been  made  approached  him,  the  Jesuit 
found  no  difficulty  in  convicting  him.  Punish- 
ments were  not  of  a  spiritual  nature;  they  consisted 
of  lashes  with  leather  thongs  inflicted  upon  men  in 
public  and  upon  women  in  secret,  a  father  or  a 
husband  being  frequently  charged  with  the  office 
of  executioner,  the  culprit  being  finally  con- 
strained to  kiss  the  hand  of  the  father  who  had 
caused  him  to  be  chastised.  Offences  were  of  two 
kinds,  offences  against  doctrine,  failure  to  attend 
a  religious  ceremony  and  the  like,  and  offences 
against  economic  obligations,  such  as  negligence 
in  work  or  even  losing  seed  or  cattle,  which  the 
fathers  would  replace  without  objection,  but  with 
the  addition  of  a  thorough  whipping. 

Commerce  was  prohibited  and  money  unknown. 
There  was  no  trade  except  with  the  foreigner,  and 
this  was  undertaken  solely  by  the  Jesuits.  It  is 
estimated  that  they  were  able  to  collect  from  one 
to  two  millions  of  ecus  annually,  of  which  one  half 
was  remitted  to  the  General  of  the  Order,  Natur- 
ally the  natives  had  no  share  in  it. 

The  natives  were  not  allowed  the  use  of  horses 
for  fear  lest  they  should  depart  from  their  settle- 
ments; they  were  not  permitted  to  go  beyond 
fixed  bounds,  on  pain  of  the  lash  if  they  disobeved. 
They  worked  very  badly  and  very  little.  Antonio 
de  Ulloai  says  that  seventy  labourers  were  required 
where  eight  or  ten  Europeans  of  moderate 
capacity  would  have  sufficed.  They  lived  in  a 
state  of  wretched   and   abject   inertial       One   fact 

1  Cited  by  Charles  Comte. 


PARAGUAY  45 

alone  proves  their  condition  of  stagnation.  Al- 
though a  bell  called  them  nightly  to  the  perform- 
ance of  their  conjugal  duties,  the  population  failed 
to  increase.^  When  the  Jesuits  were  expelled  in 
1768,  thev  left  a  population  in  a  miserable 
condition  such  as  Bougainville  and  La  Perouse 
have  described.  Such  was  the  result  of  putting 
into  practice  the  principles  of  Campanella's 
"Civitas  Solis." 


1  See    Pfotenhauer,    "Die    Missionen   der  Jesuiten    in    Para- 
guay," 3  vols.,  1891-1893. 


CHAPTER    VI 

MORELLY    AND    THE    "CODE    DE    LA    NaTURE" 

The  "Basiliad"— Sexual  Morality— Principles  of  the 
"Code  de  la  Nature"— Their  application  :  Babeuf  and 
Darthe — Property  and  the  Revolution. 

In  1753  Morelly,  an  author  of  whom  few  details 
are  known,  published  two  volumes  in  duodecimo, 
entitled  "An  Heroic  Poem,"  translateu  from  the 
Indian,  and  "Wreck  of  the  Floating  Isles,  or 
Basiliad  of  the  Celebrated  Pilpai."  I  confess 
that  I  have  not  read  them.  Villegardelle  has 
published  extracts  from  them  at  the  end  of  an 
edition  of  the  "Code  de  la  Nature,"  which  were 
quite  enough  for  me.  But,  judging  by  the  pass- 
ages cited  by  Von  Kirchenheim,  Morelly  exhibits 
himself  even  more  boldly  in  his  prose  poem  as 
regards  sexual  morality  than  would  appear  in  the 
pages  of  Villegardelle".  "They  knew  not  the  in- 
famous names  of  incest,  adultery  and  prostitution  : 
these  peoples  had  no  conception  of  these  crimes  : 
a  sister  received  the  tender  embraces  of  a  brother 
without  any  feeling  of  horror.  ..."  From  the 
moment  when  these  acts  ceased  to  be  denominated 
by  ugly  words  all  was  for  the  best. 

The  "Code  de  la  Nature"  appeared  in  1754,  a 
year  after  Rousseau's  essay,  "  L'Origine  de 
i'inegalit^  parmi  les  hommes."  The  author  starts 
with  the  same  idea,  "  The  earth  belongs  to  no 
man."  He  sets  up  a  model  of  legislation  "in  con- 
formity with  the  designs  of  nature."  His 
inspiration  is  derived  from  Moore  and  Campanella 
and  he  is  entitled  to  be  considered  as  having 
inspired  all  the  communists  and  collectivists  who 
have  succeeded  him,  including  our  contemporaries. 
The  essential  conditions  of  his  system  are  as 
follows  :  — 

Essential  unity  of  property  and  of  living  in  com- 
mon :  establishing  the  common  use  of  instruments  of 
labour  and  of  products :  rendering  education  equally 


THE  "CODE  DE  LA  NATURE"        47 

accessible  to  all :  distribution  of  work  according  to 
capacity  and  of  its  produce  according  to  needs :  pre- 
servation round  the  city  of  land  sufficient  for  those 
who  dwell  in  it. 

Association  of  at  least  one  thousand  persons  in 
order  that,  while  every  one  works  in  accordance  with 
his  power  and  capacity,  and  consumes  according  to 
his  needs  and  his  tastes,  there  may  be  set  up  for  a 
sufficient  number  of  individuals  an  average  of  con- 
sumption which  does  not  exceed  the  common 
resources,  and  a  total  resultant  of  work  which 
supplies  them  in  sufficient  abundance. 

No  privilege  to  be  accorded  to  talent  other  than 
that  of  directing  labour  in  the  common  interest  and 
no  regard  to  be  had,  in  dividing  the  proceeds  of 
labour,  to  capacity,  but  only  to  needs,  which  exist 
before  capacity  and  survive  it. 

Pecuniary  rewards  to  be  excluded  :  first,  because 
capital  is  an  instrument  of  labour  which  must  remain 
wholly  at  the  disposal  of  those  who  administer  it,  and 
secondly  because  every  grant  in  money  is  iiseless 
where  labour,  being  freely  and  willingly  adopted, 
would  render  the  variety  and  abundance  of  its  pro- 
duce more  extended  than  our  wants,  and  injurious 
where  inclination  and  taste  failed  to  fulfil  all  useful 
functions,  for  this  would  be  to  enable  individuals  to 
avoid  payment  of  the  debt  of  labour  and  of  obtaining 
exemption  from  the  duties  of  society  without 
renouncing  the  privileges  which  society  ensures. 

Morelly  has  codified  this  system,  and  I  repro- 
duce certain  provisions  of  his  code  which  it  is 
desirable  to  compare  with  actual  conceptions. 

Title  II. 

Art.  5.  Calculated  upon  tens,  hundreds,  etc.,  of 
citizens,  there  shall  be  for  each  calling  a  number  of 
workmen  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  difficulty  in- 
volved by  their  labour,  and  to  the  amount  of  its 
produce  which  it  is  necessary  to  supply  to  the  people 
of  each  city  without  unduly  exhausting  the  workmen. 

Art.  6.  In  order  to  regulate  the  distribution  of 
the  products  of  nature  and  of  art,  it  is  necessary  to 
recognise,  in  the  first  place,  that  these  include  articles 


48  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

of  a  durable  nature,  i.e.,  such  as  can,  at  all  events, 
be  preserved  for  a  considerable  time,  and  that  all 
products  of  this  nature  include : — (1)  daily  and 
universal  use;  (2)  use  which,  though  universal,  is  not 
continuous ;  (3)  some  that  are  continuously  necessary 
to  some  one  person  only,  but  occasionally  to  every- 
one ;  (4)  others  that  are  never  for  continuous  or 
general  use,  such  as  articles  produced  for  isolated 
gratification  or  for  a  particular  taste.  Now, 
all  these  products  of  a  durable  nature  are  to 
be  collected  in  public  store-houses  in  order 
that  they  may  be  distributed,  some  daily  or 
at  fixed  times  to  all  the  citizens  to  serve  for 
the  ordinary  necessities  of  life,  and  as  material  for 
the  labours  of  different  occupations ;  others  to  be 
supplied  to  such  persons  as  vise  them. 

Art.  11.  Nothing  is  to  be  sold  or  exchanged  be- 
tween fellow  citizens,  so  that  a  man  who  has  need  of 
particular  herbs,  vegetables,  or  fruit  is  to  go  and  take 
what  he  requires  for  one  day's  use  only  in  the  public 
place  to  which  these  things  have  been  brought  by 
those  who  grow  them.  If  a  man  has  need  of  bread, 
he  is  to  go  and  provide  himself  for  a  stated  time  from 
the  man  who  makes  it,  who  will  find  in  the  public 
granary  sufficient  flour  for  the  quantity  of  bread 
which  he  has  to  bake,  be  it  for  one  day  or  for  several. 

Art.  10.  The  surplus  provisions  of  each  city  or 
province  are  to  overflow  into  those  which  are  in 
danger  of  falling  short,  or  are  to  be  preserved  for 
future  necessities. 

Title  III. 

Art.  3.  Every  citizen,  without  exception, 
between  the  ages  of  twenty  and  twenty-five  is  to  be 
compelled  to  follow  the  pursuit  of  agriculture  unless 
relieved  by  reason  of  some  infirmity. 

Title  IV. 

Art.  1.  In  every  occupation  the  oldest  and  the 
most  experienced  are  to  take  turns,  according  to 
seniority,  and  for  five  days  at  a  time,  in  directing  five 
or  six  of  their  companions,  and  are  to  fix  the  scale  of 
work  to  be  performed  by  them,  moderately,  on  the 
basis  of  the  amount  v;hich  has  been  imposed  upon 
themselves. 


THE  "CODE  DE  LA  NATURE"        49 

Art.  2.  In  every  occupation  there  is  to  be  one 
master  for  ten  or  twenty  workmen. 

Art.  7.  The  heads  of  every  occupation  are  to 
appoint  the  hours  of  rest  and  of  labour,  and  to  pre- 
scribe what  is  to  be  done. 

Title  VI. 

Art.  1.  Every  citizen  of  the  age  of  thirty  shall 
be  clothed  according  to  his  taste,  but  without  excep- 
tional luxury,  and  similarly  is  to  take  his  meals  in 
the  bosom  of  his  family,  without  intemperance  or 
profusion ;  this  law  enjoins  senators  and  chiefs 
severely  to  repress  those  who  exceed. 

Babeuf  drew  his  inspiration  from  Morelly. 
The  manifesto  of  the  "Con.spiration  des  Egaux," 
written  by  Sylvani  Marechal,  explains  the  difference 
between  their  conception  and  that  of  an  agrarian 
law  which  permits  the  division  of  property. 
"Agrarian  laws  or  a  division  of  lands  arose  from 
the  sudden  desire  of  a  body  of  unprincipled 
soldiers,  or  of  a  people  united  by  their  instinct 
rather  than  by  their  reason.  We  aspire  to  some- 
thing more  sublime  and  more  equitable — the 
common  good  in  a  communitv  of  goods."  No 
more  private  property  in  lands,  "The  land  belongs 
to  no  one;  we  claim,  we  want  the  communal 
enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  the  earth."  The  law  of 
the  27th  Germinal  of  the  year  IV.  (April  i6th, 
i7q6),  which  punished  with' death  "all  who  incite 
to  pillage,  or  to  the  division  of  private  property 
under  the  name  of  an  agrarian  law  or  in  any  other 
manner  whatsoever,"  was  applied  to  Babeuf  and 
Darthe. 

The  Declaration  of  the  Rights  of  Man  of  1793 
had  asserted,  with  even  greater  energy  than  the 
Declaration  of  1791,  the  right  of  property,  which 
it  defined  in  Article  16  as  that  which  belongs  to 
every  citizen  to  enjoy,  and  to  dispose  at  will  of  his 
income,  the  fruits  of  his  labour  and  of  his 
industry. 

V 


CHAPTER    VII 

Robert  Owex  axd  "New  Harmony" 

i     Robert  Owen — His  theories — Organisation  of  reflex 

action — Moral    punishments — The    right    to    direct 

— Used  machinery  and  desired  to  return  to  the  spade. 

ii     The  experiment  of  "New  Harmony" — Its  constitution 

— Anarchy — The  dream  survives  the  experiment. 

I 

M.  Edward  Dolleans,  Professor  of  Political 
Economy  in  the  University  of  Lille,  has  published 
an  interesting  and  learned  volume  on  Robert 
Owen.  Robert  Owen  lived  from  1771  to  1858. 
The  son  of  a  village  labourer,  he  passed  as  an 
apprentice  through  various  trades  and  businesses, 
and  was  selected  at  the  age  of  twenty  to  direct  the 
important  fine  thread  manufactorv  of  Messrs. 
Drinkwater,  at  Manchester.  He  developed  this, 
and  after  leaving  it  in  1794,  he  married  the 
daughter  of  a  Scotchman  called  Dale,  the  owner 
of  a  large  spinning  mill  at  New  Lanark,  which 
he  purchased  and  of  which  he  assumed  the  control 
on  January  loth,   1800,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine. 

Robert  Owen  had  imbued  himself  more  or  less 
conscientiously  with  the  ideas  of  certain  eighteenth 
century  philosophers.  He  believed  with  Rous- 
seau that  man  is  born  virtuous  and  that  society 
has  corrupted  him,  and  that  evil  is  inherent  in 
institutions  and  not  in  man.  He  thought  with 
Helvetius  that  all  men  possess  the  same  degree  of 
receptivity,  so  that  man  is  the  product  of  his 
surroundings  with  neither  liberty  nor  responsi- 
bility of  his  own.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  to 
prevent  evil  and  not  to  repress  it.  In  order  to 
prevent  it,  it  is  necessary  to  organise  a  machine 
into  which  every  individual  shall  Tit  and  perform 
the  function  which  he  sought  to  perform  without 
realising  it. 

This  conception  is  not  new.  The  organisers  of 
every  religion    have  subjected    their    followers  to 


OWEN  AND  "NEW  HARMONY"       51 

dogma  and  ritual ;  by  faith  they  destroy  individual 
thought,  bv  ritual  they  subject  men  to  fixed 
mechanical  observances.  The  repetition  of  im- 
pressions stores  up  a  particular  sentiment  in  a 
particular  group  of  cells  in  the  brain,  which  cause 
the  performance  of  a  particular  definite  act. 
Creeds,  education,  and  military  discipline  never 
were  and  are  not  anything  but  the  more  or  less 
systematic  organisation  of  the  phenomenon  which 
is  termed  reflex  action  in  the  science  of 
physiology.  Owen  furnishes  an  example.  He 
is  desirous  of  having  the  best  machinery  and  the 
best  cottons,  but  it  is  necessarv  to  extract  the 
greatest  possible  amount  of  advantage  from  them 
bv  means  of  a  well-trained  staff  which  is  not  over- 
worked and  is  well  fed  and  healthy,  and  is  not 
enfeebled  hx  drimkenness  and  disorderly  living. 
He  devotes  himself  to  the  well-being  and  the 
discipline  of  his  workmen  and  prepares  recruits 
for  the  future  by  undertaking  the  education  of 
their  children  ;  but  he  does  not  interfere  directly, 
although  kept  informed  of  the  personal  condition 
of  his  employees. 

While  holding  that  man  is  irresponsible  and 
consequently  ought  nf)t  to  be  punished,  he  has 
recourse  to  a  form  of  moral  correction.  Over  each 
loom  there  hangs  a  square  of  wood,  each  side  of 
which  is  painted  a  different  colour,  black,  blue, 
yellow,  and  white.  If  the  workman  has  miscon- 
ducted himself  on  the  preceding  day,  the  colour 
which  is  exposed  to  view  is  black,  if  he  has  con- 
ducted himself  well  it  is  white.  Owen  by  walking 
through  the  workshops  sees  at  a  glance  upon  the 
"telegraph"  the  condition  of  each  of  his 
employees,  but  he  never  remarks  upon  it  to  them. 

The  measures  taken  by  Robert  Owen,  and  his 
commercial  practices,  marked  as  they  were  by  a 
niceness  which  inspired  all  the  more  confidence  by 
reason  of  their  unexpectedness,  assured  the  success 
of  his  undertakings.      But  not  content  with  doing 


52  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

good    business,  his    desire  was    to    transform    the 
world. 

In  1800  children  were  largely  employed  who 
belonged  to  the  parish  by  virtue  of  the  Poor  Laws, 
and  were  cruelly  over-worked.  Owen,  by  precept 
and  practice,  showed  how  to  reform  the  system 
under  which  they  were  abused,  and  on  his  com- 
petitors failing  to  follow  his  example  he  appealed 
to  the  legislature  and  obtained  the  Act  of  1802, 
which  formed  an  addition  to  the  Poor  Laws.  He 
persevered  and  obtained  the  Act  of  181 7.  He  also 
desired  to  find  a  solution  to  the  question  of  unem- 
ployed workmen  during  the  crisis  which  followed 
the  revolutionary  wars. 

Owen  was  never  at  a  loss.  He  considered  that 
the  masses  should  be  led  by  superiors,  without 
enquiring  into  the  origin  of  the  right  of  control 
which  he  possessed,  taking  those  who  were  out 
of  work  and  making  them  inmates  of  "nurseries 
of  men,"  to  use  his  own  bold  and  characteristic 
expression. 

Owen  is  an  example  of  how  a  great  captain  of 
industry  may  thoroughly  understand  the  conduct 
of  his  own  business  and  may  yet  lose  his  footing 
when  he  meddles  with  politics.  While  himself 
employing  the  most  highly  perfected  machinery, 
he  looked  upon  machinery  as  the  origin  of  the 
suffering  of  the  workers,  and  in  order  to  supply 
them  with  work  he  proposed  to  substitute  the 
spade  for  the  plough.  This  industrial  workef 
dreamt  bucolic  dreams,  and,  considering  agricul- 
ture to  be  the  source  of  all  riches  and  virtue,  he 
desired  to  have  the  State  organised  as  an  agrarian 
community  divided  into  communities  of  from 
2,000  to  3,000  inhabitants,  each  of  which  should 
be  self-contained  and  self-sufficient. 

II 

Owen  was  prepared  to  put  his  experiments  to 
the  proof,  and  did  so  at  Motherwell,  in  Scotland, 


OWEN  AND  "NEW  HARMONY"       53 

with  a  capital  of  ;^5o,ooo.  But  M.  DoUeans 
devotes  himself  to  the  study  of  a  more  important 
one  of  which  full  information  is  available — this 
was  "New  Harmony"  in  Indiana,  U.S.A. 

The  point  was  to  substitute  a  new  organisation 
for  an  existing  communistic  organisation,  namely, 
that  of  the  Rappists.  The  Rappists  had  succeeded, 
but  each  of  them  desired  to  have  his  share  of  the 
capital  of  the  Society  instead  of  leaving  it  undis- 
tributed. This  ending  might  have  enlightened 
Owen  as  to  the  ultimate  consequences  of  his 
experiment  in  admitting  that  everything  there  was 
for  the  best.  He  proceeded  to  the  United  States 
in  1S25,  and  made  a  great  to-do  over  his  founda- 
tion. He  enlisted  Alaclure,  a  rich  American 
(who  contributed  150,000  dollars),  a  number  of 
philosophers,  and  eight  hundred  visionaries  and 
persons  of  unsettled  temperament,  dreamers  of 
either  sex,  each  one  of  whom  believed  commun- 
ism to  be  the  ideal,  provided  that  his  svstem  was 
accepted,  as  well  as  some  adventurers  and  knights 
of  industry. 

On  May  ist,  1825,  the  experimental  or  prelimin- 
ary society  was  constituted.  Every  one  is  under 
a  general  duty  to  place  his  capacity  at  the  service 
of  the  community,  for  each  member  of  which  an 
account  is  opened,  the  value  of  his  services  being 
carried  to  his  credit  and  his  various  expenses  to 
his  debit.  In  the  result  this  beautiful  arrangement 
merely  ended  in  the  most  complete  anarchy.  At 
the  end  of  six  months  the  industries  left  bv  the 
Rappist^s  disappeared  and  there  was  neither 
labour  nor  control.  Those  who  might  feel  dis- 
posed to  work  were  unwilling  to  do  so  for  the 
benefit  of  the  idle.  A  large  amount  of  discussion 
and  disputation  ensued,  and  a  convention  was 
nominated,  which,  on  June  5th,  1826,  adopted  a 
constitution  which  confuses  juridical  and  moral 
questions.  It  is  preceded  by  a  declaration  of 
general  principles,  in  the  front  rank  of  which  there 


54  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

figure  community  of  goods,  equality  of  rights  and 
of  duties,  sincerity  and  honesty  in  all  acts,  freedom 
from  responsibility  and  the  abolition  of  punish- 
ments and  rewards. 

The  assembly,  which  consists  of  all  the  members 
of  the  community  of  either  sex  of  more  than  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  is  possessed  of  legislative  power ; 
the  executive  power  is  vested  in  a  council  consisting 
of  three  ministers,  elected  by  the  assembly,  and 
of  a  secretary,  a  treasurer,  a  commissary  and  six 
superintendents,  each  placed  at  the  head  of  one 
of  the  six  departments  of  the  community.  Who 
appoints  these  superintendents?  Their  subordin- 
ates of  more  than  sixteen  years  of  age,  subject  to 
ratification  by  the  general  assembly.  This 
restriction  was  not  sufficient  to  invest  these 
departmental  chiefs  with  authority,  they  were 
dependent  for  it  upon  those  whom  they  employed, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  was  their  duty  to  furnish 
the  executive  council  daily  with  their  opinion  upon 
the  persons  under  their  authority.  It  would  be 
difficult  to  find  an  organization  better  adapted  to 
promote  impotence  and  dissensions. 

When  Owen  returned  after  the  lapse  of  a  year, 
he  found  "  New  Harmony  "  in  dissolution,  but 
with  remarkable  optimism  he  did  not  despair.  He 
accepted  the  dictatorship,  but  on  April  15th,  1828, 
he  was  obliged  to  admit  the  failure  of  an  experi- 
ment which  had  cost  him  personally  200,000 
dollars.  I  will  not  exaggerate  this  negative 
result ;  it  is  obvious  that  the  elements  of  which 
the  population  which  came  to  make  the  experiment 
was  composed  were  not  the  most  suitable  for 
ensuring  its  success.  One  is  none  the  less  entitled 
to  enter  it  on  the  debit  side  of  the  communistic 
account. 

These  experiments  failed  to  discourage  this 
practical  man  from  his  visionary  dreams.  From 
1834  until  his  death  he  published  a  weekly  news- 
paper,   the    "New    Moral    W^orld,"    in    which    he 


OWEN  AND  "NEW  HARMONY"       55 

persisted  in  proclaiming  his  unsectarian  millen- 
nium, a  new  moral  world  which  was  to  abolish 
individualistic  com.petition  in  the  interests  of 
communism. 


CHAPTER  Vni 

Fourier  and  the  American  Phalanx 

i.  A  maniac's  ravings — Attraction  of  the  passions — The 
passions  and  the  constant  persistence  of  species — 
Series  or  groups  of  passions — The  phalanstery — 
Division  of  profits  —  Experiments  —  Victor 
Considerant. 

ii.     Experiments    in    the    United    States — The    North 
American  Phalanx. 

I 

Fourier,  born  in  1772,  was  the  son  of  a  draper  at 
Besan(;on.  A  brilliant  scholar,  he  found  trade 
unworthy  of  himself,  and  conceived  a  hatred  of 
business  avocations,  which  was  all  the  greater  in 
proportion  as  they  disturbed  his  maniac's  ravings. 
His  love  of  order  was  such  that  in  his  walks  abroad 
he  would  take  the  measurements  of  a  building  or  a 
public  garden.  In  his  passionate  devotion  to 
flowers,  he  desired  to  possess  every  variety  of  each 
species  and  to  cultivate  it.  He  adored  music,  and 
was  full  of  enthusiasm  for  military  displays.^  He 
was  an  ardent  admirer  of  the  universal  harmony 
which  enabled  the  stars  to  travel  through  an  eclipse 
without  colliding,  and  drew  therefrom  the  conclu- 
sion that  humanity  must  obey  a  principle  of  har- 
mony as  the  planets  obey  the  law  of  gravitation. 

1  Pellarin,  "Fourier,  sa  vie  et  see  theories." 


56  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

It  did  not  occur  to  him  that  Newton  had  merely 
ascertained  the  relations  between  these  phenomena 
and  that  these  phenomena  existed  before  Newton's 
time,  and  he  fancied  that  on  the  day  when  a  genius 
analogous  to  that  of  the  English  philosopher 
should  have  discovered  this  principle,  all  the  diffi- 
culties of  social  existence  would  be  dissipated. 

Fourier  believed  that  it  had  fallen  to  him  to 
discover  this  principle — it  was  that  of  the  attraction 
of  the  passions.  He  expounded  it  in  his  book 
"Theorie  des  quatre  mouvements  et  des  destinees 
Generales"  (1808),  and  later  in  his  "Traite  de 
I'association  domestique  et  agricole"  (1822).  In 
1825  he  settled  in  Paris,  formed  a  small  school, 
and  published  his  "Nouveau  monde  industrial  et 
societaire."  Fourier  was  of  the  same  mind  with 
Bentham  in  his  protest  against  asceticism,  to  which 
he  opposes  the  "  doctrme  of  happiness,"  which 
consists  in  the  possession  of  a  number  of  passions 
and  of  means  to  satisfy  them.  Duty  comes  from 
men,  attraction  from  God.  It  is  necessary  to 
study  attraction.  If  in  existing  society  the  un- 
loosing of  the  passions  produces  fatal  results,  this 
fact  proves  that  society  is  badly  organised.  This 
is  a  new  form  of  Rousseau's  assertion  that  "man 
is  born  virtuous  and  that  society  has  corrupted 
him." 

He  believed  that  the  passions  are  legitimate 
because  they  exist,  but  he  departed  from  the  prin- 
ciple of  the  persistence  of  species,  and  was  con- 
vinced that  the  passions  differed  in  species  and 
variety  as  determined  since  the  creation  of  the 
world.     He  said — 

"The  series  of  groups  is  the  method  generally 
adopted  by  God  in  the  distribution  of  the  kingdoms 
of  natural  history  and  of  created  things.  Naturalists 
in  their  theories  and  their  pictures  have  unanimously 
admitted  this  distribution  ;  they  could  not  reject  it 
without  seceding  from  nature  herself  and  falling  into 
coufusion." 


AiMERICAN   PHALANX  57 

Fourier  was  not  familiar  with  the  works  of 
Lamarck  and  did  not  anticipate  those  of  Darwin. 
He  beheved  that  philosophers  had  only  to  discover 
the  order  in  which  the  Creator  had  arranged  the 
species.  Similarly  he  had  only  to  discover  the 
order  in  which  the  passions  were  arranged.^  He 
continues  :  — 

If  passions  and  characters  were  uot  subject  to  dis- 
tribution in  series  of  groups,  like  objects  in  the 
kingdoms  of  natural  history,  man  would  be  out  of 
harmony  with  the  unity  of  the  universe  ;  there  would 
be  a  duplication  of  system  and  want  of  conformity 
between  mind  and  matter.  If  man  would  attain  to 
social  unity,  he  must  seek  for  the  way  in  the  system 
of  series  which  God  has  imposed  upon  nature. 

A  series  of  the  passions  is  a  league  or  affiliation  of 
various  small  conglomerations  or  groups,  each  of 
which  exercises  some  species  of  passion  which 
develops  the  genus  of  the  passion  for  the  entire  series. 
Twenty  groups  cultivating  twenty  kinds  of  roses  form 
a  series  of  rose-growers  as  regards  genus,  and  of  white 
rose-growers,  yellow  rose-growers,  moss  rose-growers 
as  regards  species. 

I  will  not  prolong  this  explanation,  but  in  order 
that  his  system  may  be  fully  understood,  I  must 
cite  this  passage:  — 

Passions  which  are  confined  to  an  individual  are 
not  admissible  in  this  mechanism. 

Three  individuals,  A,  B,  and  C,  like  their  bread  in 
three  degrees  of  saltness :  A  likes  it  with  little  salt, 
B  with  a  moderate,  and  C  with  a  large  quantity ; 
these  three  merely  form  a  graduated  discord, 
incapable  of  the  graduated  harmony  which  is 
required  for  a  collection  of  groups  which  are  related 
to  one  another  in  an  ascending  or  descending  order. 

A  regular  group  requires  not  less  than  seven  to 
nine  separate  units  to  make  it  susceptible  of  properly 
balanced  conflict :  one  cannot,  therefore,  speculate 
upon  individuals  in  series  or  groups  of  passions. 

1  Fourier  "CEuvres    Completes,"  vol.  iii.,  p.  19.     Theorie  de 
I'unite  universelle. 


58  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

Twelve  men  who  were  passionately  to  cultivate 
twelve  different  plants  could  not  assist  the  interaction 
of  a  series.  The  description  of  a  series  of  passions 
always  implies  a  relationship  of  groups,  and  never 
of  individuals. 

The  three  individuals,  A,  B  and  C,  cannot  consti- 
tute a  series  of  bread -eaters  or  advocates -of  bread. 

If  instead  of  three  individuals  one  assumes  thirty, 
that  is  to  say,  eight  with  A's  taste,  ten  with  B's,  and 
twelve  with  C's,  they  will  form  a  series  of  the  passions 
or  relationshij)  of  groups  graduated  and  contrasted 
with  regard  to  taste  in  bread.  A  combined  inter- 
vention, or  discords  and  cabals  among  them,  will 
furnish  the  friction  calculated  to  raise  the  making  of 
bread  and  the  growing  of  wheat  to  a  state  of 
perfection . 

The  series  being  formed,  production,  consump- 
lion  and  distribution  will  be  effected  by  homo- 
geneous series,  united  solely  by  the  attraction  of 
passion.  This  takes  the  place  of  necessity, 
morality,  reason,  duty  and  force  which  are  em- 
ployed by  the  "  civili.sed." 

Fourier  works  out  a  nomenclature  of  the  passions, 
of  which  he  classes  twelve  as  fundamental.  He 
seeks  an  organisation  wherein  the  three  "actua- 
ting" passions  (the  alternating,  emulative  and 
composite)  bring  the  five  "sensitive"  passions 
(taste,  touch,  sight,  hearing  and  smell)  into  har- 
mony with  the  four  "affective"  passions  (love, 
friendship,  ambition,  and  familism  or  paternity). 

This  organisation  he  finds  in  the  "phalanx"  of 
abt)Ut  eighteen  hundred  members,  men,  women  and 
children  of  all  ages,  each  "phalanx"  organised  in 
groups  and  series,  which  was  to  occupy  a  square 
league  of  land  in  common.  The  "phalanx"  lives 
in  a  huge  building  called  a  "phalanstery,"  arranged 
in  the  most  convenient  manner,  in  which  the  differ- 
ent kinds  of  manufacturing  industry  are  concen- 
trated. Everyone  can  enrol  himself  in  the  series  of 
workers  which  suits  him  best  according  to  his  taste. 


AMERICAN  PHALANX  59 

The  question  of  sexual  relations  is  regulated  as 
follows.  A  woman  must  first  ha\-e  a  husband  by 
whom  she  will  bear  tv.o  children,  then  a  "genitor" 
by  whom  she  will  have  one,  then  a  favourite,  and 
hnally  paramours.  Men  are  allowed  similar  free- 
dom. 

In  the  midst  of  these  dreams,  I'ourier  neverthe- 
less desired  to  respect  certain  economic  notions  : 
at  the  end  of  the  year  the  total  product  of  labour 
w'as  apportioned  as  follows  : — F"ive-twelfths  to 
labour,  four-twelfths  to  capital  and  three  to  ability  : 
these  portions  being  distributed  in  the  tirst  place 
among  the  series,  then  among  the  groups  and  so 
on.  This  method  of  distribution  requires  no 
operation  in  the  nature  of  exchange,  everyone's 
consumption  being  in  accordance  with  his  income, 
while  a  simple  balancing  of  accounts  will  suffice 
every  year  to  regularise  his  position. 

Fourier  thought  that  he  had  provided  for  every- 
thing. He  dreamt  of  trying  his  system  on  a 
square  league  of  land  and  appealed  to  princes  for 
help.  He  fancied  that  some  day  a  wealthy 
capitalist  would  come  and  offer  him  a  million  with 
which  to  form  the  first  phalanstery,  and  he  waited 
every  day  at  midday  for  ten  years  for  the  unknown 
individual  whose  advent  he  confidently  expected.^ 

Some  well-to-do  young  folks  attempted  to  found 
a  phalanstery  at  Conde-sur-Vesgres.  Before  the 
walls  were  finished  anarchy  reigned  in  their  midst 
and  their  resources  were  exhausted.  Another 
experiment  at  Citeaux  met  with  no  better  success. 

Fourier  died  in  1837,  leaving  disciples  who  pro- 
pagated his  ideas  in  France  by  means  of  books, 
lectures  and  associations.  Among  them  were 
former  pupils  of  the  "Ecole  polytechnique,"  such 
as  engineers  and  artillery  officers,  who  were  capti- 
vated by  the  analogy  between  his  principle  and 
the  universal   law  of  gravitation.       One  of  them, 

1   Pellarin.  vol.  ii.,   p.   203. 


6o  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

V^ictor  Considerant,  who  had  renounced  the  career 
oi  a  promising  otiicer  in  order  to  devote  himself 
to  Fourierism,  sketched  its  programme  in  two 
volumes  entitled  "Destinee  Sociale,"  which  he 
dedicated  to  the  King.  Like  the  followers  of 
Saint  Simon,  Fourier's  disciples  desired  the  inter- 
vention of  the  sovereign.  Considerant  became  a 
member  of  the  National  Assembly  and  asked  for 
three  sittings  in  order  to  explain  Fourier's  system 
to  his  colleagues.  On  April  14th,  1849,  he  spoke 
amid  general  indifference,  and  on  his  concluding 
by  demanding  from  the  State  a  grant  of  1,600 
hectares  of  land  and  of  four  million  francs,  no  one 
was  found  to  support  his  proposal. 

II 

But  in  the  United  States  there  were  forty 
experimental  phalansteries  between  1840  and  1850. 
Brisbane  reduced  the  number  of  persons  necessary 
to  found  a  phalanstery  to  four  hundred,  each  mem- 
ber having  to  subscribe  $1000  in  order  to  form  a 
capital  of  $400,000.  I'he  members  were  to  receive 
a  quarter  of  the  total  produce  of  the  association, 
or,  if  they  preferred  it,  interest  at  the  rate  of  8  per 
cent.  For  $1000  each  member  was  to  receive  $80, 
and  with  this  sum  the  association  undertook  to 
provide  its  subscribers  with  support  and  shelter. 
The  mansion  was  to  cost  $150,000,  the  interest 
upon  which  at  10  per  cent,  would  be  $15,000,  i.e. 
an  annual  rent  of  $37  for  each  of  the  400  members  : 
half  of  the  rooms  were  to  be  $20,  others  were  to 
be  $100.  A  member  living  at  the  lowest  rent 
would  therefore  have  $60  per  annum  over.  As 
the  association  was  to  supply  its  own  grain,  fruit, 
vegetables,  and  cattle,  and  was  to  effect  large 
economies  in  fuel  and  cooking,  this  would  be 
sutticient. 

Brisbane  failed  in  the  attempt  to  find  sub- 
scribers. But  other  enthusiasts,  although  less 
methodical,    carried   out   the   propaganda   for   the 


AMERICAN   PHALANX  6i 

organisation  of  phalansteries.  A  number  of  indi- 
viduals possessed  of  neither  capacity,  energy  nor 
resources,  founded  phalansteries,  some  of  which 
had  a  capital  of  less  than  $1000.  They  took  a 
small  piece  of  land  in  a  wild  region,  burdened  it 
with  as  man\^  mortgages  as  they  could  obtain, 
and  the  majority  of  the  co-adventurers  having  no 
knowledge  of  farming,  they  failed  as  soon  as  a 
payment  of  interest  fell  due.  Three  phalansteries 
survived  a  little  longer,  the  North  American 
Phalanx  continuing  to  exist  for  twelve  years,  the 
Brook  Farm  Phalanx  for  five,  and  the  Wisconsin 
for  six. 

The  North  American  Phalanx  was  organised 
with  the  collaboration  of  the  most  celebrated 
American  disciples  of  Fourier — Brisbane,  Horace 
Greeley  (who,  in  1872,  was  the  democratic  candi- 
date for  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States), 
Ripley,  Godwin  and  Channing.  The  original 
capital  was  $8,000;  in  1844  the  property  was 
valued  at  $28,000;  and  in  1852  at  $80,000.  In 
accordance  with  Fourier's  theory,  the  system  of 
groups  and  series  was  applied  to  labour,  remunera- 
tion for  labour  being  apportioned  according  to  the 
difficulty  and  unattractiveness  of  each  allotted 
task.  ATasons  were  paid  50  cents,  a  day  and  the 
doctor  six  and  a  quarter.  The  architect  was  rewarded 
for  his  ability  by  a  premium  of  25  cents,  a  day  in 
addition  to  his  wages.  The  profits  were  distributed 
at  the  end  of  the  year,  wages  being  thereby  in- 
creased by  about  $13,  while  capital  received  a 
dividend  of  about  5  per  cent.  The  rent  of  a 
comfortable  room  was  $12.  The  members  lived 
together,  but  their  food  was  supplied  according  to 
a  tariff,  a  cup  of  cofifee  cost  half  a  cent,  a  portion  of 
meat  2  cents,  a  pie — the  national  dish  of  North 
America — 2  cents,  etc.  Each  member  paid  36 
cents,  a  week  for  the  use  of  the  dining  hall,  and 
accounts  were  settled  once  a  month.     The  members 


62  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

of  this  phalanx  were  cultivated,  and  life  was  full 
nf  amenities:  they  indulged  in  music,  organised 
dances,  possessed  a  library  and  gave  a  good  educa- 
tion to  the  children.  The  North  American 
Phalanx  survived  all  the  other  experiments,  yet 
every  member  felt  that  the  life  in  common  had  not 
brought  with  it  the  advantages  of  which  he  had 
dreamed,  the  life  was  a  narrow  one  and  the 
administration  of  the  settlement  gave  rise  to 
criticism. 

In  1854  '^  '''''ill  belonging  to  the  Phalanx  was 
destroyed  by  fire.  Greeley  offered  to  dcfrav  the 
necessarv  expense  of  rebuilding,  and  a  meeting 
was  called  to  consider  his  proposal.  During  the 
discussion  a  member  proposed  the  dissolution  of 
the  Phalanx,  and,  although  such  a  proposition  was 
not  on  the  agenda,  it  corresponded  so  closely  with 
the  general  desire  that  it  was  carried.  The 
property  was  sold,  the  shareholders  obtained  66 
per  cent,  on  their  capital,  and  the  members 
returned  to  an  "odious  civilisation." 


CHAPTER     IX 
The  Oxeida  Community 

Further  communistic  experiments — The  Oneida  Commun- 
ity— Its  administration — The  reign  of  God — "Mutual 
criticism" —  Promiscuity  —  Dissolution  —  One  Com- 
rauiiity  formed  by  Americans,  the  others  by 
Germans. 

Further  experiments  were  made  in  the  United 
States,  there  being-  thirty-twxj  Socialistic  establish- 
ments in  1842.  John  Humphrey  Noyes,  the  author 
of  the  first  "History  uf  American  Socialism," 
founded  the  Oneida  Community  in  1848,  under 
the  influence  of  Fourier's  ideas.  Its  supporters 
contributed  8107,000:  in  1857  tl'^e  balance  sheet 
shewed  assets  of  $67,000 — a  loss  of  $40,000.  In 
the  ten  succeeding  years  they  made  a  profit  of 
$180,000;  in  1874  they  possessed  qoo  acres  of  land 
and  numbered  .>oo  members.  Their  affairs  were 
administered  by  twenty-one  committees,  there 
being  one  committee  for  twenty  members;  there 
were  also  forty-eight  directors  of  the  various 
industries.  The  staff  therefore  must  have  been 
ample. 

They  believed  that  the  kingdom  of  God  was  at 
hand;  they  desired  the  total  and  immediate 
abolition  of  sin,  and  thev  practised  sexual  pro- 
miscuity within  the  community,  limited  by  freedom 
of  selection.  Control  was  exercised  by  "mutual 
criticism,"  with  or  without  the  consent  of  its 
object.  Nordhoff  has  given  a  description  of  one 
of  their  sittings  at  which  fifteen  members  were 
assembled.  For  a  quarter  of  an  hour  they  attacked 
a  young  man  whose  emotion  was  made  apparent 
by  his  paleness  and  by  the  large  drops  of 
perspiration  which  he  emitted. 

The  community  existed  for  thirty  years.  Out- 
side opinion  was  hostile  to  the  system  of  sexual 


64  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

morality  which  they  practised,  and  possibly  the 
"Perfectionists"  were  themselves  tired  of  it;  they 
gave  it  up,  but  from  that  day  the  community  was 
dissolved,  and  in  1880  it  became  a  commercial 
limited  company. 

This  is  the  only  community  which  was  formed 
by  Americans,  all  the  others  were  formed  bv 
Germans,  and  all  of  them  failed  for  the  same 
reason,  the  corruption  and  despotism  of  those  who 
directed  them,  and  internal  dissensions  and  rival- 
ries, so  that  the  time  which  ought  to  have  been 
employed  in  production  was  wasted  in  disputes  and 
compromises. 


CHAPTER    X 

Cabet  and  the  American  Icarians 

i.  The  "Voyage  en  Icarie"  —  Its  catchwords  — 
Symmetrical  arrangements — The  State— In  this  land 
of  freedom  all  liberty  is  suppressed — Absence  of  civil 
and  penal  law — Powers  of  police — The  dictator 
Icarus — The  Budget. 

ii.  A  practical  experiment  —  Texas  —  Nauvoo  — 
Dissensions — Cabet  expelled — His  death — Chelten- 
ham's experiment — End  of  the  Icarians  of  Nauroo. 

Cabet  was  born  at  Dijon  in  1788.  He  was  a 
lawyer  by  profession,  and  had  taken  an  active  part 
in  the  revolution  of  1830.  He  was  appointed 
Procurator-General  in  Corsica,  and  was  recalled 
and  elected  a  deputy  in  1834.  He  was  sentenced 
to  two  years'  imprisonment  and  retired  to 
England,  whence  in  1839  he  brought  back  his 
"Voyage  en  Icarie,"  written  under  the  influence 
of  Morelly's  "Basiliad"  and  of  the  ideas  of  Owen. 
Under  this  title,  with  a  peculiar  typographical 
arrangement  of  his  catchwords  he  brings  together 
all  the  vague  and  high  sounding  expressions  which 
were  current  in  Socialist  circles  : 


ALL    FOR   EACH 

FRATERNITY 

LOVE 

JUSTICE 

EACH   FOR  ALL 

SOLIDARITY 

MUTUAL    AID 

EDUCATION 

■QUALITY  —  LIBERTY 

UNIVERSAL    INSURANCE 

INTELLIGENCE-  REASON 

ELIGIBILITY 

ORGANISATION    OF    LABOUR 

UNITY 

MACHINERY  FOR  THE  BENEFIT  OK 

ALL             MORALITY 

PRACE 

INCREASE    OF    PRODUCTION 

ORDER 

EQUITABLE   DISTRIBUTION   OF   PROFITS                 UNION 

ABOLITION    OF    MISERY 

PRIMARY    RIGHT- 

- 

PROGRESSIVE     IMPROVEMEN1 

[■             PRIMARY    DUTY 

TO    LIVE 

MARRIAGE    AND    FAMILY 

CONTINUAL    PROGRERS 

ABUNDANCK 

TO    LABOUR 

ro  EACH  ACCORDING 

ART 

FROM   EACH   ACCORD- 

-Q   HIS    NF.CESSITIES 

COMMON    WELFARE 

ING    TO    HIS    POWERS 

These  catchwords  are  always  in  fashion.  The 
book,  written  in  a  declamatory  style,  is  divided 
into  three  parts;  the  first  is  devoted  to  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  inhabitants,  the  second  to  a  history  of 

E 


66  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

Icaria,  the  third  to  the  principles  upon  which 
Icarian  civiHsation  is  founded.  We  find  once 
again  the  symmetry  which  was  seen  in  the  earUer 
romances;  one  hundred  provinces  contain  ten 
divisions.  The  counties  contain  a  county  town, 
eight  villages  and  a  number  of  farms.  There  are 
one  hundred  provincial  county  towns,  nine 
hundred  divisional  county  towns,  and  eight 
thousand  villages  surrounding  the  capital  of  the 
land  of  Icaria.  The  police  has  attained  a  degree 
of  perfection  which  all  the  cities  of  the  world  may 
well  envy  to-day.    There  are  several  harvests  a  year. 

The  principal  meals  are  taken  in  common,  but 
for  the  making  of  soup  each  family  is  furnished 
with  the  "Cook's  Guide,"  an  official  and  perfect 
publication.  All  Icarians  are  perfumed,  and  they 
have  at  their  disposal  dirigible  balloons,  thanks 
to  the  communism  which  had  also  succeeded  in 
abolishing  the  tooth-ache.  The  State  directing 
everything  is  in  advance  in  everything — this  is  the 
greatest  miracle  of  Icaria. 

There  is  only  one  great  newspaper,  the 
"National  Journal,"  for  the  liberty  of  the  Press 
is  of  no  value  in  this  land  of  liberty.  There  is  but 
one  national  history — for  children  must  be  brought 
up  to  moral  unity.  Statistics  are  the  chief  instru- 
ment of  Government,  they  regulate  all  occupations, 
the  callings  of  the  young,  victualling  and  all  other 
requirements.  Daily  labour,  which  occupies  seven 
hours  in  the  summer  and  six  in  the  winter,  is 
compulsory  on  all  men  up  to  the  age  of  sixty-five, 
and  on  women  up  to  fifty.  Anyone  refusing  to 
work  is  confined  in  a  public  prison. 

The  Government  is  in  the  hands  of  a  president 
and  of  fifteen  ministers  elected  biennially  by  the 
people.  The  Sovereignty  of  the  people  is  ensured 
by  two  thousand  representatives,  at  the  rate  of  two 
for  each  division.  Officials  receive  no  salary. 
Fifteen  special  committees  control  the  fifteen 
ministers  and  regulate  all  the  conditions  of  social 


AMERICAN    ICARIANS  67 

life,  including  the  bill  of  fare  of  the  common  meals 
and  the  dress  of  the  ladies. 

There  is  naturally  neither  civil  law  nor  a 
judicial  bench.  Inasmuch  as  there  can  only  be 
minor  offences,  criminal  law  is  supplanted  by  a 
few  minor  censures.  There  are  places  of  worship, 
priests  and  priestesses,  whose  functions  are  con- 
fined to  preaching,  for  there  is  no  ritual. 

Cabet  does  not  venture  to  accept  the  necessary 
consequence  of  his  conception  of  society,  the 
community  of  women. 

I  put  aside  the  history  of  the  transition  which 
at  the  end  of  a  violent  crisis  brought  this  astonish- 
ing State  under  the  control  of  the  Grand  Icarian, 
invested  with  the  dictatorship. 

Cabet  enumerates  the  twenty-three  decrees  bv 
virtue  of  which  all  property  remains  vested  in  the 
existing  holder  without  the  possibility  of  aliena- 
tion, wealth  is  to  be  cut  down,  the  condition  of 
the  poor  improved,  wages  and  the  price  of  com- 
modities fixed,  and  the  cost  of  government  limited, 
but  supplemented  by  five  hundred  million  francs 
per  annum  to  procure  work  for  the  unemployed, 
and  by  one  hundred  millions  for  the  training  of 
the  workers  of  the  future. 

II 

In  1847  Cabet  made  an  appeal  for  the  organisa- 
tion of  an  Icaria  in  America.  He  received 
numerous  offers  of  service  from  traders  who  had 
goods  to  dispose  of.  In  January,  1848,  he  pur- 
chased a  million  acres  in  Texas,  and  in  February 
sent  out  sixty-nine  enthusiasts  who,  on  arriving 
at  New  Orleans  on  March  27th,  were  apprised  of 
the  Revolution  of  1848,  and  regretted  having  left 
France  at  such  a  time.  Cabet  thought  that  he  had 
bought  a  tract  of  land  in  a  ring  fence,  but  found 
that  he  had  become  possessed  of  scattered  lots. 
The  Icarians  reached  these  lands  in  the  midst  of 
all  kinds  of  difficulties.     A  second  body  of  ninety- 


68  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

nine  went  to  join  them,  and  having  ascertained 
that  it  was  impossible  to  live  there,  they  separated 
into  small  detachments. 

At  the  end  of  1848  and  in  the  beginning  of  1849 
five  hundred  fresh  Icarians,  including  Cabet, 
landed  at  New  Orleans.  All  they  possessed  was 
17,000  dollars.  There  being  no  question  of  their 
proceeding  to  Texas,  two  hundred  went  off 
separately,  while  about  two  hundred  and  forty, 
with  Cabet,  found  a  site  ready  for  them  at  Nauvoo, 
Hancock  County,  Illinois,  which  the  Mormons  had 
been  recently  obliged  to  abandon.  They  were 
able  to  take  eight  hundred  acres  of  land  and  to 
purchase  a  mill,  a  distillery  and  several  houses. 
For  five  or  six  years  the  affairs  of  Icaria  prospered. 
A  wooden  building  was  to  be  seen,  fifty  yards  long, 
which  served  as  a  refectorv  and  place  of  meeting. 

The  Icarians  adopted  a  constitution.  The 
election  of  a  president  was  annual,  and  Cabet  was 
chosen,  but  an  opposition  developed  itself  which 
continually  increased  in  violence.  Cabet  opposed 
them  with  equal  violence,  and  in  1856  declined  to 
recognise  the  election  of  three  members  of  the 
administrative  council.  Not  only  was  Icaria  dis- 
tracted by  discussions,  libels  and  denunciations, 
but  people  even  came  to  blows.  Cabet  demanded 
the  revocation  of  the  Charter  of  Icaria,  and  was 
expelled  from  the  community,  and  in  November, 
1856,  retired  to  St.  Louis  with  eighty  faithful 
supporters.     He  died  there  a  week  after  his  arrival. 

The  majority  of  his  companions  were  workmen 
bv  trade  who  found  work  in  this  city.  Two  years 
afterwards  one  hundred  and  fiftv  of  them  resolved 
to  recommence  their  common  life,  and  with  the 
assistance  of  Icarians  who  had  remained  in 
France,  and  who  sent  them  fiftv  thousand  francs, 
they  purchased  the  Cheltenham  Estate,  situated 
six  miles  from  St.  Louis.  But  from  1859  they 
split  into  two  parties,  the  older  desiring  that  the 
Government    should    rest    with    the    dictator,    the 


AMERICAN    ICARIANS  69 

younger  desiring  an  organisation  based  upon  dis- 
cussion. The  latter  were  overruled  and  withdrew. 
They  were  forty-two  in  number  and  represented 
the  most  active  element.  The  community  con- 
tinuously decayed,  and  in  1864  numbered  no  more 
than  fifteen  adults  of  either  sex  with  a  few  children. 

Their  president,  Sauva,  called  them  together 
in  a  "popular  assembly"  which  declared  the 
community  of  Cheltenham  dissolved.  The 
Icarians  who  had  remained  at  Nauvoo  became 
involved  in  debt  and,  declaring  that  they  were  too 
near  civilisation  to  be  able  to  realise  their  great 
dream,  they  bought  a  property  of  three  thousand 
acres  in  extent  in  the  south-west  of  the  State  of 
Iowa,  sixty  miles  from  Missouri.  The  land  was 
good,  but  they  lacked  transport,  and  were  burdened 
with  mortgages.  At  the  time  of  the  War  of 
Secession,  which  supplied  them  with  resources, 
they  only  numbered  fifteen,  including  children; 
later  the  Chicago,  Burlington  and  Quincy  Rail- 
road absorbed  their  property.  Prosperity  had  suc- 
ceeded to  misery,  but  they  split  up  into  factions. 
The  Icarians  lost  sight  of  their  original  ideal,  the 
younger  generation  becoming  imbued  with  the 
doctrines  of  Marx  and  forming  a  new  party. 

In  1877  they  attempted  a  dissolution,  which  was 
refused.  They  then  appealed  to  the  Courts, 
alleging  that  the  community,  which  had  been 
registered  as  an  agricultural  society  in  the  form 
of  a  limited  company,  had  infringed  its  articles 
of  association  by  indulging-  in  communistic 
practices.  The  circuit  court  appointed  three* 
trustees  to  liquidate  its  affairs,  and  the  "young 
party"  remained  in  possession  of  the  vv^hole 
village ;  but  it  never  prospered,  and  was  finally 
dissolved  in  1887.  The  "old  party"  received  the 
eastern  part  of  the  original  property,  an  indemnity 
of  1,500  dollars  and  eight  houses.  The  members 
composing  it  struggled  on  until  1895,  when  the 
community  finally  disappeared. 


CHAPTER   XI 

American  Experiments 

Short  duration  of  each  experiment — The  religious  motive 
— Necessity  of  a  dictatorship — Unproductive  labour 
— Complete   deadlock — Communistic   programme  of 
the  "Labour  Party." 
Mr.    Morris    Hilquitt^    sums    up    the    various 
communistic  experiments  in  the  United  States  as 
follows  : — The  average  duration   of   the  group  of 
communities  founded  by  Owen  was  two  years ;  with 
the  exception  of  the  North  American  Phalanx,  of 
Brook  Farm  and  of  Wisconsin  Phalanx,  the  com- 
munities established  by  followers  of  Fourier  were 
equally  short  lived,   while  the   Icarian  settlements 
were  in  a  perpetual  condition  of  reconstruction  and 
dissolution. 

Noyes  and  Greeley  consider  religion  to  be  the 
one  indispensable  bond  of  every  community,  while 
Nordhoff  maintains  that  even  with  religion  a 
dictator  is  also  indispensable. 

Mr.  Morris  Hilquitt  says  that  the  religious 
communities  were  only  more  successful  because 
they  consisted  of  German  farmers  accustomed  to 
agriculture  whose  wants  were  limited.  The 
Icarian  communities  were  composed  of  workmen 
whose  calling  was  unsuited  to  agriculture  and  who 
were  accustomed  to  a  far  more  complex  style  of 
living.  The  aim  of  the  religious  communities 
was  propaganda  and  not  communism ;  they 
employed  paid  labour.  The  Communists  of 
Amana  recognised  that  their  hired  labourers  did 
twice  the  work  which  they  could  do  themselves. 
"Many  hands  make  light  work,"  said  the  Shakers. 
Mr.  Morris  Hilquitt  concludes  that  the  American 
communists  have  ended  in  complete  failure. 
Nevertheless  the  programme  of  the  Labour  Party 
declares  that  "the  true  theory  of  economics  is  that 
the  machinery  of  production  must  likewise  belong 
to  the  people  in  common." 

1  "History  of  Socialism  in  the  United  States,"'  1903. 


BOOK     II 


SOCIALISTIC     THEORIES 


CHAPTER   I 
Saint  Simox 

French  socialistic  formulae — Spiritual  power  according  to 
Saint  Simon — The  National  and  anti-National  parties 
— The  parable — Productive  society — Political  error 
— Producers  versus  consumers — Industrial  liberty — 
— "The  caravan."  The  exploitation  of  man  by  man 
— Saint  Simon's  theocracy — Sacerdotalism  and 
Secularism — Enf antin  as  Pope  ;  Industrial  feudalism 
— Declaration  of  Count  Jaubert — Slaves  of  industry 
— Genesis  of  Socialistic  conceptions  from  1830  to 
1848. 

Let  us  pass  from  these  monotonous  Utopias, 
condemned  as  they  are  by  experiences  which  are  as 
constant  as  they  are  cruel.  There  now  appear  the 
Socialists  with  scientific  pretensions,  of  whom 
France  presents  a  lavish  supply.  Why  then  should 
we  scorn  them  ?  Are  they  not  French  formulae 
which  we  find  at  the  root  of  all  these  recent  foreign 
conceptions?  "The  land  belongs  to  no  one  and 
its  fruits  to  all,"  says  Rousseau  in  1753.  Are  the 
rules  of  Morelly's  "Code  de  la  Nature"  so  far  re- 
moved from  actual  schemes. 

The  works  of  Saint  Simon  from  1808  to  1825 
disclose  a  strange  medley  of  religious  survivals, 
scientific  aspirations,  and  profound  insight  into  the 
future.  He  adopts  the  old  conception  of  Gregory 
VII .  bv  proposing  to  organise  two  powers,  the  one 
spiritual,  composed  of  the  philosophers  and  artists, 
the  other  temporal,  but  this  temporal  power  must 
be  devoted  to  industry,  so  that  when  Le  Play  at  a 
later  date  proposes  to  constitute  the  industrial  chiefs 
the  "authorities  of  society,"  he  is  adopting  Saint 
Simon's  idea  in  another  form. 

Saint  Simon  divided  the  nation  into  two  parts, 
a  national  and  an  anti-national.  The  former  is 
composed  of  those  who  perform  useful  labour, 
direct  this  labour  or  employ  their  capital  in  it.  The 


74  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

anti-national  party  is  composed  of  those  who  con- 
sume but  do  not  produce,  of  those  whose  labour  is 
not  useful,  and  of  those  who  profess  political  prin- 
ciples which  are  inimical  to  production.  It  follows 
that  the  anti-national  part  must  be  eliminated  from 
the  performance  of  the  public  functions  of  govern- 
ment, and  that  part  of  the  nation  must  be  placed  at 
its  head  which  produces  its  wealth  and  its  great- 
ness. 

He  set  forth  this  conception  in  1819,  in  the 
famous  parable  which  involved  him  in  a  prosecu- 
tion and  an  acquittal  at  the  assizes.  He  says,  "  We 
assume  that  France  suddenly  loses  her  fifty  best 
physicists,  her  fifty  best  chemists,  etc.,  her  fifty 
best  engineers,  her  fifty  best  physicians,  her  fifty 
best  bankers,  her  two  hundred  best  merchants,  her 
fifty  best  iron  masters,  etc.,  her  fifty  best  masons, 
her  fifty  best  carpenters,  etc.  Let  us  admit  that 
France  retains  all  the  men  of  genius  whom  she 
possesses,  but  that  she  has  the  misfortune  to  lose 
Monsieur,  the  brother  of  His  Majesty  and  the 
Due  d'Angouleme,  and  that  she  also  loses  all  the 
great  oificers  of  the  Crown,  all  the  ministers  of 
State,  all  the  councillors  of  State,  all  the  prefects, 
judges,  etc." 

Saint  Simon  made  no  account  of  the  intangible 
results  ensured  by  a  good  minister,  a  good  admin- 
istrator, and  a  good  magistrate.  Were  they  to 
disappear  we  should  find  ourselves  in  a  condition 
of  anarchy  which  would  compromise  or  destroy  the 
action  and  the  labours  of  the  fifty  men  of  genius 
whom  Saint  Simon  has  enumerated. 

The  essential  element  which  it  is  necessary  to 
recognise  in  this  conception  is  the  protest  against 
the  preponderant  part  played  by  noblemen, 
soldiers,  and  prelates  in  public  affairs.  He  knew 
that  the  further  we  advanced,  the  more  the  centre 
of  gravity  of  power  would  shift,  but  by  a  strange 
lack  of  political  perception    he  aims  at  creating  a 


SAINT  SIMON  75 

parliament,  representative  in  its  cliaracter,  com- 
posed of  industrial  chiefs,  and  despite  the  experi- 
ence of  the  past,  he  imagines  that  these  industrial 
chiefs  will  refrain  from  making  their  respective 
interests  prevail  to  the  detriment  of  the  general 
interest.  There  is  a  true  as  uell  as  a  false 
side  to  his  motto  of  "  Everything  for  indus- 
try," true  because  he  foresaw  that  a  civilisa- 
tion on  a  competitive  basis  would  become 
increasingly  productive,  false  because  he  made  of 
industry  an  end  in  itself.  He  only  saw  the  pro- 
ducer and  forgot  that  without  the  consumer  the 
producer  has  no  raison  d'etre.  In  his  political 
conception  he  had  no  doubt  that  if  he  invested  the 
producers  with  all  the  powers  of  government,  they 
would  abuse  them.  How  then  did  he  fail  to  per- 
ceive that  he  was  constituting  a  new  caste,  a 
privileged  order,  to  the  particular  detriment  of  the 
most  numerous  and  the  most  needy? 

He  defined  politics  as  the  "science  of  produc- 
tion," but  at  the  same  time  he  said  "Government 
is  always  injurious  to  industry  when  it  interferes 
with  the  progress  of  events,  even  when  it  attempts 
to  encourage  it ;  v.  hence  it  follows  that  Govern- 
ments should  limit  their  efforts  to  the  preservation 
of  industry  from  every  kind  of  trouble  and  inter- 
ference."^  Why  then  found  the  industrial  parlia- 
ment, the  scheme  of  which  he  has  set  out  in 
"I'Organisateur." 

It  is  true  that  in  Saint  Simon's  conception  the 
sole  function  cff  government  is  to  execute  the  decrees 
of  a  consciously  formed  opinion.  He  recites  the 
following  parable:  The  caravan  says  lead  us  where 
we  shall  be  happiest,  or  it  says  lead  us  to  Mecca. 
In  the  former  case  it  relies  on  its  leader,  in  the 
latter  it  clearly  indicates  its  wishes  to  him,  and 
thereby  acquires  the  right  to  control  the  directions 
which  he  gives.     It  is  clear  that  opinion  can  have 

1  De  I'Indubtrie  (1816). 


76  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

no  effective  and  useful  action  upon  public  afifairs, 
unless  it  has  a  definite  object. 

Saint  Simon  merely  followed  after  the  philoso- 
phers of  the  eighteenth  century,  and  repeated 
Condorcet's  words,  when  he  said  that  the  golden 
age  is  before  and  not  behind  us.  But  he  over- 
burdened his  economic  forecasts  with  religious 
aspirations.  In  his  "  Nouveau  Christianisme" 
(1825)  he  repeated  the  precept  of  Christ,  "Love  one 
another;  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  But  the 
tradition  of  the  Church  is  otherwise.  He  substi- 
tutes the  declaration  that  "  the  best  theologian  is  he 
who  makes  the  most  general  applications  of  the 
fundamental  principle  of  divine  morality,  to  the 
effect  that  he  is  the  true  Pope  and  speaks  in  the 
name  of  God."  Thus  inspired  he  asserts,  "that  it 
is  the  duty  of  religion  to  direct  society  to  the  great 
end  of  ameliorating  as  rapidly  as  possible  the  lot 
of  the  poorest  class.  Except  for  the  word 
"religion"  and  for  the  substitution  of  "the  poorest 
class"  for  "the  greatest  number,"  this  formula  is 
that  which  Priestley  and  Bentham  borrowed  from 
the  materialist  Helvetius. 

Saint  Simon  denounces  the  exploitation  of  man 
by  man.  "The  way  to  grow  rich  is  to  make  others 
work  for  one."  The  State  is  to  be  the  sole  re- 
cipient of  the  instruments  of  labour,  of  land,  and 
of  capital,  and  is  to  apportion  them  so  that  they 
may  be  utilised  in  common  and  distributed  in 
accordance  with  his  hierarchical  system ;  to 
each  according  to  his  capacity,  to  each  capacity 
according  to  its  works.  The  "  Globe,"  which 
became  the  organ  of  Saint  Simon's  disciples, 
bore  among  its  mottoes,  "  All  privileges  of 
birth  are  abolished."  A  central  bank  is  to  regulate 
production  and  to  prevent  over-production  and 
want.  We  arrive,  therefore,  at  a  condition  of 
complete  nationalisation  as  well  as  of  complete 
sacerdotalism.  ■^ 


SAINT  SIMON  77 

Saint  Simon's  disciples  tried  to  christianise  in- 
dustry. Enfantin  believed  that  he  had  power  to 
fascinate  the  judges  by  his  look,  and  considered 
himself  an  incarnation.  "I  am  the  departed  Saint 
Simon,  living  and  being,  past,  present,  and  future, 
that  Saint  Simon  who,  eternally  progressive,  is 
now  manifest  by  the  name  of  Enfantin.  It  is  by 
me  and  in  me,  that  Saint  Simon  asserts  himself  a 
God."  Saint  Simonism  ends  in  the  priestly  couple, 
man  and  woman,  the  confused  conception  of  whom 
lends  itself  to  all  kinds  of  interpretations.  With 
the  establishment  of  Menilmontant  it  was  to  burv 
itself  in  ridicule.  Nevertheless,  the  majority  of 
its  inmates  approved  themselves  as  practical  men 
in  after  life  and  achieved  brilliant  careers  in  in- 
dustry and  finance. 

Saint  Simon  had  applied  to  Napoleon  and  after- 
wards to  Louis  XVIII.  Enfantin  and  Bayard 
asked  Lafayette  to  take  the  di(?tatorship.  After  the 
Coup  d'Etat  of  December  2nd,  they  nearly  all 
became  ardent  Bonapartists ;  they  never  had  any 
conception  of  political  liberty,  and  were  always  full 
of  the  retrograde  notion  of  class  distinctions.  After 
the  insurrection  of  Lyons,  the  "Globe"  said,  "The 
lower  orders  cannot  raise  themselves  except  so  far  ^ 
as  the  upper  classes  give  them  a  hand ;  it  is  from 
the  latter  that  the  initiative  must  come."  And  they 
adopted  State  socialism  by  talking  of  assuring  pen- 
sions for  the  workers  and  procuring  capital  for 
them  through  the  State  bank.  The  fundamental 
fallacy  of  vSaint  Simon  lies  in  these  class  politics, 
which  elevate  the  industrial  chiefs  into  a  domi- 
nant class,  a  conception  which  Count  Jaubert 
adopted  in  1836,  when  he  said:  "No  society  can  do 
without  an  aristocracy ;  shall  I  tell  you  what  is  the 
aristocracy  of  the  Government  of  July?  It  is  that 
of  the  great  industrial  chiefs  and  manufac- 
turers. These  are  the  feudatories  of  the  new 
dynasty."     Strange  !     The  object  of  the  Revolution 


78  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

of  1789  was  to  destroy  feudalism,  and  here  is  a 
new  feudalism  proclaiming  itself  and  withholding 
all  political  rights  through  the  franchise.  These 
barons  of  industry  exploit  the  serfs  of  industry  who 
are  the  true  producers.  Such  is  the  simple  genesis 
of  the  democratic  and  revolutionary  conceptions  of 
socialism  from   1830  to  1848. 


CHAPTER    II 

Pierre  Leroux  and  the  "Circulus" 

Pierre  Leroux— The  religion  of  humanity — Mutual 
solidarity — The  word  ''socialism" — Dissensions — 
The  Triad— Theory  of  the  "Circulus"— How  Leroux 
practised  it. 

Pierre  Leroux  is  also  a  disciple  of  Saint  Simon. 
He  claims  to  supplement  Christianity  by  the 
religion  of  humanity .1  According  to  him  man  is 
based  upon  the  family ;  nationality  and  property 
are  in  complete  communion  with  all  their  equals 
throughout  the  universe,  and  by  confining  his 
communion  to  a  more  or  less  limited  portion  by 
means  of  the  family,  the  city,  or  by  property,  their 
results  are  imperfection  and  an  evil.  It  was  he 
who  introduced  the  word  solidarity  into  the 
sociological  vocabulary,  to  replace  the  word  charity. 
"Temporal"  society  was  based  on  the  principle  of 
egoism.  With  the  principle  of  charity  as  we 
understand  it,  that  is  to  say,  with  the  principle  of 
mutual  solidarity,  the  temporal  society  is  entrusted 
with  the  care  of  organising  charity. 

1  See  "L'Hnmanite"  and  "  L'Encyclopedie  nouvelle." 


LEROUX  AND  THE  "CIRCULUS"      79 

I  congratulate  Pierre  Leroux  on  having  supple- 
mented the  word  "solidarity"  with  the  epithet  of 
"mutual,"  for  the  system  which  is  actually  pre- 
sented to  us  under  the  name  of  solidarity  is  a 
solidarity  which  is  unilateral  and  obligatory  on  a 
certain  number  of  persons,  but  no  explanation  is 
vouchsafed  of  how  a  reciprocal  solidarity  might  be 
exercised. 

Pierre  Leroux  disputes  with  Owen  the  honour 
of  having  invented  the  word  "Socialism."  He  had 
a  hatred  of  eclectic  philosophers  and  of  economists, 
to  whom  he  applied  the  supreme  insult  of  "  Malthu- 
sians."  He  claimed  that,  the  annual  produce  of 
labour  in  France  being  nine  thousand  millions  of 
francs,  two  hundred  thousand  families  of  land- 
owners, capitalists,  and  financiers  appropriated  five 
milliards  by  the  rent  of  land,  interest  on  capital  and 
taxes. 

He  worshipped  one  thing — the  Triad  or  Number 
Three.  Man  is  at  the  same  time  triple  and  single, 
exhibiting  sensation,  feeling  and  knowledge.  Hence 
the  division  of  the  human  race  into  three  great 
classes,  philosophers  or  men  of  knowledge ;  artists 
or  warriors,  or  men  of  feeling,  and  industrial  chiefs, 
or  men  of  sensation.  Hence  also  the  castes  of 
India  and  Egypt  and  of  the  Republic  of  Plato, 
except  that  these  castes  were  not  equal  as  thev 
ought  to  be.  Every  human  being  has  a  right  to  a 
dwelling,  sustenance,  and  clothing.  The  formula 
for  the  remuneration  of  all  officials  (and  all  citizens 
are  such)  is  triple  and  single,  to  each  according  to 
his  capacity,  to  each  according  to  his  labour,  and  to 
each  according  to  his  necessities.  "Capacity  re- 
munerates itself  by  duties,  and  imposes  duties. 
Labour  completed  remunerates  itself  by  leisure. 
Necessity  is  satisfied  by  production,  natural  or 
artificial,  artistic  or  scientific." 

Pierre  Leroux  discovered  the  principle  by  virtue 
of  which  nature  has  established  a  constant  relation 


8o  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

between  population  and  the  means  of  subsistence. 
This  is  the  Circulus.  The  digestion  of  each  indi- 
vidual yields  more  than  the  equivalent  of  the 
amount  of  his  nourishment,  "A  man  who  were 
to  refuse  to  labour,  would  still  have  the  right  to  live 
by  placing  himself  under  cover  of  the  Circulus." 
Pierre  Leroux  put  this  agricultural  theory  into 
practice  in  Jersey,  where  he  had  taken  refuge.  Paul 
Meurice  once  told  me  that  one  day  Mme.  Victor 
Hugo  and  he  paid  Leroux  a  visit,  when  he  enter- 
tained them  with  his  hobby  and,  in  order  to  add 
an  experimental  demonstration  to  what  he  was  say- 
ing, he  opened  a  cupboard  in  which  were  some 
bacon  and  other  provisions.  From  this  he  took 
an  enormous  dish,  in  which  a  monumental  element 
of  the  Circulus  was  taking  its  ease.  Mme.  Hugo 
put  her  handkerchief  to  her  nostrils,  and  Paul 
Meurice,  who  was  short-sighted,  after  having 
sufficiently  ascertained  the  nature  of  the  object 
presented  to  them,  said  quietly,  "  I  thought  you 
were  waiting  for  its  transformation  to  put  it  into 
the  cupboard."  Pierre  Leroux  replied  with  a  fine 
gesture  which  was  meant  to  embrace  a  whole 
Triad,  but  Mme.  Victor  Hugo  and  Paul  Meurice 
made  their  escape  without  waiting  for  an  explana- 
tion. 


CHAPTER    III 
Louis  Blanc  axd  the  Organization  of  Labour 

Louis  Blanc  and  the  organisation  of  Labour — "To  live 
working  or  to  die  fighting" — The  instrument  of 
Labour  and  the  weaver  of  Lyons — "The  State  as 
banker  of  the  poor" — Social  workshops — Solidarity 
in  the  workshops  and  of  the  workshops — Suppression 
of  credit  and  of  trade — Down  with  competition — 
— The  ruin  of  England — "You  lose  the  right  to  speak 
of  God" — The  family  and  heredity — Labour  as  a 
point  of  honour. 

Saint  Simon  had  abandoned  the  principle  of  equal 
rights  for  all,  proclaimed  bv  the  Revolution  of  1789, 
and  had  returned  to  the  policy  of  privilege  by 
wishing  to  make  of  the  industrials  an  order  which 
paid  taxes,  but  should  have  a  monopoly  of  power. 
The  Socialists  initiated  class  politics  by  opposing 
the  workmen  to  the  industrial  chiefs. 

Louis  Blanc's  "Organisation  du  Travail"  was 
published  in  1839.  He  conjured  up  the  motto  of 
the  insurgents  of  Lyons:  "To  live  working  or  to 
die  fighting."  This  antithesis,  if  it  proved  the 
bravado  of  these  wretches,  also  proved  their 
ignorance,  for  insurrection  has  never  yet  provided 
workmen  with  work.  Louis  Blanc  added:  "What 
is  wanting  to  the  workmen  is  the  instruments  of 
their  labour,"  thus  proving  that  he  did  not  know 
that  the  weavers  of  Lyons  were  the  owners  of  their 
frames.  He  considered  that  the  State  ought  to 
supply  the  workman  with  his  instruments  of  labour 
and  called  it  the  "banker  of  the  poor."  He  coollv 
demanded  that  the  State  should  constitute  "Social 
workshops,  destined  gradually  and  without  shock, 
to  supersede  the  workshops  of  individuals;  they 
were  to  be  regulated  by  rules  which  realised  the 
principle  of  association  and  had  the  force,  form  and 
power  of  law.  Once  founded  and  set  in  motion, 
the  social   workshop    would    be  self-sufficing  and 

F 


82  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

would  be  dependent  solely  on  its  own  principles. 
The  associated  workers  would  freely  choose  direc- 
tors and  managers  after  the  first  year,  they  would 
effect  the  division  of  profits  amon^  themselves,  and 
would  devote  themselves  to  the  means  of  increasing- 
the  enterprise  they  had  commenced."  "From  the 
solidarity  of  all  the  workers  in  the  same  workshop," 
he  concludes,  "to  the  solidarity  of  the  workshops 
in  the  same  industries.  By  killing-  competition 
we  should  stifle  the  evils  which  it  engenders." 
"Who  says  machinery  says  monopoly."  In  Louis 
Blanc's  system  there  are  to  be  no  more  patents  for 
inventions;  the  inventor  is  to  be  rewarded  by  the 
State,  and  his  discovery  placed  at  the  service  of  all. 
There  is  to  be  no  more  trade,  and  credit  is  to  be 
nothing  more  than  a  means  of  supplying  workmen 
with  the  instruments  of  labour. 

He  enters  into  few  details  of  this  organisation, 
for  the  excellent  reason  that  he  only  conceives  it  in 
an  extremely  vague  manner,  but  he  is  angry 
because  it  provokes  criticism.  He  fails  to  under- 
stand why  it  should  be  thought  unnatural  that  the 
State  should  employ  a  portion  of  its  revenue  in 
creating  competition  with  private  industry,  and 
innocently  thinks  that  this  is  a  fair  system  and  does 
not  involve  the  slightest  degree  of  spoliation.  He 
declaims  against  the  use  of  machinery  as  causing 
the  lowering  of  wages.  "Out  of  individualism 
there  issues  competition,  out  of  competition  the 
instability  and  inadequacy  of  wages."  Under  the 
empire  of  competition,  labour  produces  a  genera- 
tion which  is  decrepit,  atrophied,  gangrened,  and 
rotten.  Not  only  does  it  produce  these  effects  upon 
the  workmen  but  it  ruins  small  industries  for  the 
benefit  of  greater  ones,  and  is  a  cause  of  the 
ruin  of  the  middle-class.  It  encourages  over  pro- 
duction and  is  condemned  by  the  example  of 
England.     "England's  atonement,"    he  cries,    "is 


ORGANIZATION  OF  LABOUR         83 

now  complete.     Where  today  is  her  power?     The 
empire  of  the  sea  is  sHpping  from  her,"  etc.,  etc. 

In  a  reply  to  his  critics,  Louis  Blanc  shows  the 
method  which  he  employs.  "Capitalists  and  work- 
men are  not  equally  necessary.  If  the  latter  are 
worse  treated  than  the  former,  this  follows  from  the 
fact  that  all  the  ideas  of  justice  and  of  truth  have 
been  inverted,  and  that  civilisation  has  travelled 
the  wrong  way.  If  you  say  that  things  could  not 
have  fallen  out  otherwise,  you  lose  the  right  to 
speak  of  God."  He  did  not  stop  to  enquire  how  it 
was  that  God  allowed  "all  the  ideas  of  justice  and 
of  truth  to  be  inverted."  He  also  said  "the  family 
is  derived  from  God,  heredity  from  man."  As  he 
would  have  found  great  difficulty  in  explaining 
this  conception,  he  confined  himself  to  stating  it. 
If  asked  what  was  the  motive  power  of  the  workers 
he  would  answer  "the  point  of  honour  of  labour," 
and  would  declare  that  a  post  should  be  set  up  in 
every  workshop,  bearing  the  inscription  :  "He  who 
does  not  work  is  a  thief."  This  would  suffice  to 
suppress  idleness. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Thk  Labour  Conferences  at  the  Luxembourg 
AND  THE  National  Workshops 

i.  Louis  Blanc  and  the  Provisional  Government — 
Deci-ee  proclaiming  the  right  to  work — Louis  Blanc 
at  the  Luxembourg — "To  regulate  the  happiness  of 
all  the  families  of  France" — Restriction  of  the  hours 
of  labour  and  suppression  of  piece-work — Speech  and 
intervention  by  Louis  Blanc — Associations  of  work- 
men— Their  programme — Instructions  to  the  future 
National  Assembly — Insurrection  of  May  15th. 

ii.  National  workshops  —  Number  enrolled  —  Their 
organisation  —  The  Club  Monceaux  versus  The 
Luxembourg — Report  of  June  19th — Insurrection  of 
June  23rd. 

The  Revolution  of  February  24th  broke  out  on 
the  evening  of  that  day,  the  Government  was  com- 
pleted in  the  offices  of  "La  Reforme"  by  the  addi- 
tion of  the  names  of  Louis  Blanc,  Flocon,  and 
Albert,  who  were  originally  appointed  secretaries. 
On  the  25th,  in  reply  to  a  grand  manifesto,  in 
which  Lamartine  defends  the  tricolor,  the  Govern- 
ment announces  that  "  National  workshops  are  open 
for  workmen  without  wages." 

By  the  creation  of  twenty-four  battalions  of  the 
National  Guard,  with  a  pay  of  a  franc  and  a  half  a 
day,  the  Government  proposed  to  employ  the  un- 
emplo5-ed  workmen.  But  it  went  too  far.  The 
Provisional  Government  undertook  by  a  decree  to 
guarantee  the  support  of  the  workmen  by  work, 
and  to  guarantee  work  to  all  the  citizens.  This 
was  the  proclamation  of  the  right  to  work.^  Louis 
Blanc  had  commenced  by  requiring  a  ministry  of 
progress,    he  ended   by  accepting  a   "government 

1  See,  in  addition  to  works  dealing  specially  with  these 
matters,  "L'Histoire  des  classee  ouvri^res."  by  Leva&seur,  vol. 
ii.,  p.  343,  and  G.  Cohen,  "Annales  de  TEcole  libre  des 
sciences  politiques. "     1897. 


LABOUR  CONFERENCES  85 

commission  for  workmen,"  of  wiiich  he  was  to  be 
the  president,  and  Albert  the  vice-president.  If 
was  established  on  March  ist,  and  consisted  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  to  two  hundred  workmen,  more 
or  less  delegated  by  themselves.  Louis  Blanc,  who 
lost  his  head  from  the  very  beginning,  indulged  in 
phrases  of  the  most  prodigious  inconsequence,  such 
as  the  follow  ing :  "  We  have  assumed  the  formid- 
able responsibility  of  regulating  the  happiness  of 
all  the  families  of  France."  At  the  same  time  the 
Provisional  Government  gave  effect  to  the  decree 
published  in  the  "Moniteur  OfiEiciel"  of  March  9th. 
"Article  i.  The  working  day  is  cut  short  by  one 
hour;  consequently  in  Paris,  where  it  consisted  of 
eleven  hours,  it  is  reduced  to  ten,  and  in  the 
provinces,  where  it  has  hitherto  consisted  of  twelve, 
it  is  reduced  to  eleven.  Article  2.  The  exploita- 
tion of  workmen  by  sub-contracting  and  piece-work 
is  abolished." 

A  decree  of  March  8th  directed  the  establishment 
in  each  mayoralty  of  a  free  enquiry  office  for  situa- 
tions. This  remained  a  paper  measure,  and  could 
hardly  be  otherwise.  The  other  decrees  provoked 
recriminations  and  disputes,  but  they  could  not  be 
of  use  to  workmen  whose  need  was  work  and  not 
leisure.  The  deputations  to  the  Luxembourg 
became  more  numerous,  all  of  them  formulating 
more  or  less  real  grievances  and  proposing! 
chimerical  remedies. 

A  second  general  meeting  took  place  on  the  loth 
of  March.  This  was  to  be  composed,  so  far  as 
possible,  of  three  professional  delegates.  Louis 
Blanc  said:  "I  was  going  to  find  myself  in  the 
midst  of  those  w^orkers  whose  lot  had  been  the 
object  of  my  preoccupation.  I  was  going  to  be  able 
to  work  in  their  midst.  .  .  Yes,  I  admit  I  ex- 
perienced a  moment  of  immense  pride.  If  this  is 
wrong,  forgive  me;  it  is  the  happiness  of  my  life." 
This  sentimental  clap-trap  called  forth  an  ovation. 


86  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

The  delegates  selected  by  lot  the  members  who 
were  to  form  a  permanent  committee.  The  indus- 
trial chiefs  were  invited  to  form  another,  but  the 
mere  presence  of  Louis  Blanc  inspired  them  with 
justifiable  mistrust.  He  had  announced  the  sup- 
pression of  labour  in  the  prisons  and  convents,  but 
nothing  followed.  On  March  28th,  the  bakers 
went  out  on  strike.  Louis  Blanc  drew  up  a  scale  of 
wages  which  the  prefecture  of  police  published  in 
the  form  of  an  order.  The  different  trades  applied 
to  the  Luxembourg,  Louis  Blanc  intervened,  and 
the  terrified  industrial  chiefs  gave  way.  He  was 
acclaimed  and  carried  in  triumph  as  though  to  the 
works  of  Derosne  and  Cail.  But  the  paper-makers' 
and  hatters'  hands  went  on  strike  a  fortnight  after 
accepting  a  scale  of  wages  and  betook  themselves 
to  the  national  workshops. 

Louis  Blanc  dreamed  of  organising  the  work- 
men's associations,  of  which  he  had  boasted,  and 
did  organise  three  of  them,  the  tailors,  the  saddlers, 
and  the  trimmers  of  lace  for  military  requisites. 
On  March  20th,  Louis  Blanc  published  his  plan. 
These  societies  were  to  be  based  upon  labour  as  a 
point  of  honour.  All  wages  were  to  be  the  same, 
and  since  the  proprietors  declared  themselves 
ruined,  they  were  to  hasten  to  sell  their  under- 
takings to  the  State,  which  was  to  give  them  in 
return  "bonds  carrying  interest,  and  mortgages 
upon  the  value  of  the  surrendered  undertakings." 
This  is  how  he  placed  the  instruments  of  labour 
in  the  hands  of  the  workmen.  In  the  plenary 
assembly  of  April  3rd,  he  abandoned  the  equality 
of  wages  which  had  been  severely  criticised  by  the 
workmen  themselves.  The  plan  subsequently 
drawn  up  by  Vidal  and  Pecqueur,  admitted  of 
agricultural  phalansteries,  and  substituted  public 
magazines  for  ordinary  trading.  Nevertheless  its 
authors  "did  not  desire  to  ask  for  a  monopoly  for 
the  profit  of  the  State."    But  inasmuch  as  the  maga- 


LABOUR  CONFERENCES  87 

zines  were  only  to  take  five  per  cent.,  they  would 
not  be  long  in  ruining  private  enterprise. 

The  State  was  not  to  supply  the  initial  capital, 
but  was  to  be  responsible  for  all  discounts  and  to 
issue  a  paper  currency  at  a  forced  rate  for  the  pay- 
ment of  duties  and  wages  in  these  establishments. 
It  was  to  be  the  universal  insurer  and  banker  of  the 
people.  Louis  Blanc,  invoking  memories  of 
the  House  of  Peers,  set  up  the  Luxembourg  in 
opposition  to  the  future  National  Assembly.  "The 
people  has  arrived,  the  people  must  remain.  I 
shall  be  very  strong  when  I  can  say  treat  with  it,, 
and  now  repel  it  if  you  dare."  The  Luxembourg 
Conference  took  part  in  the  Revolutionary  mani- 
festations of  March  i6th  and  April  17th,  and  put 
forward  an  electoral  list  in  opposition  to  the  Pro- 
visional Government.  At  the  elections,  while 
Lamartine  was  successful  with  259,800  votes,  Louis 
Blanc  only  obtained  121,000,  and  one  workman 
alone  out  of  the  Luxembourg  list  was  elected. 
Louis  Blanc  was  furious,  and  on  April  27th  re- 
peated Hannibal's  speech  against  the  "Social 
Order."  This  was  the  last  formal  sitting.  The 
National  Assembly  expelled  Louis  Blanc  and 
Albert  from  the  executive  committee.  The  Con- 
ference of  the  Luxembourg  met  again  on  May  13th, 
and  the  insurrection  of  May  15th  took  place  amid 
shouts  of  "Vive  Louis  Blanc,  the  minister  of 
labour." 

n 

The  Luxembourg  programmes  failed  to  alleviate 
the  industrial,  financial,  and  commercial  crisis. 
The  hours  of  labour  were  restricted,  but  work  itself 
was  not  forthcoming.  The  decree  of  February 
24th  had  promised  the  organisation  of  national 
workshops.  Several  yards  were  opened,  and  one 
franc  fifty  was  given  to  those  who  came  to  claim 
work  or  bread.  M.  Emile  Thomas,  a  former  pupil 
of  the  "Ecole  Centrale,"  proposed  to  organise  the 


88  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

national  workshops  with  his  companions.  From 
March  9th  to  March  12th  he  enrolled  9,000  men,  on 
the  31st  he  numbered  30,000,  and  on  April  30th 
100,000.  On  June  i6th  the  committee  of  labour 
received  a  return  of  103,000  men  enrolled;  the 
figure  was  raised  to  119,000,  the  leaders  were 
accused  of  exaggerating  the  effectives  for  the  pur- 
pose of  taking  advantage  of  the  difference. 

Eleven  men  composed  a  "squad;"  five  squads 
a  brigade ;  four  brigades  a  lieutenancy ;  and  four 
lieutenancies  a  company.  Each  principal  overseer 
commanded  three  companies,  and  was  himself 
subordinate  to  the  fourteen  divisional  chiefs.  An 
army  was  thus  organised,  which  was  not  only  un- 
suited  to  labour,  but  incapable  of  receiving  it.  Not 
only  were  the  workmen  bad  navvies,  but  there  were 
no  works  ready  for  them.  Those  who  were  enrolled 
were  at  times  employed,  and  at  times  unattached, 
and  drew  2  francs  a  day  and  i  franc  50  accordingly. 
The  stafif  was  constantly  swelled  by  an  influx  from 
the  provinces. 

The  workmen  who  might  have  had  employment 
with  individuals,  put  forward  impossible  claims, 
and  the  national  workshops  were  nurseries  for 
strikes.  Their  inmates  led  a  life  of  idleness,  and 
after  March  26th  the  members  of  the  squads  had 
their  wages  raised  and  received  assistance  in  the 
form  of  food  and  medicines.  A  number  of  them 
enrolled  themselves  in  more  than  one  brigade  and 
drew  double  and  treble  wages,  while  some  of  the 
brigade  leaders  made  lists  of  their  effectives  and 
appropriated  the  wages  of  fictitious  employees. 

Emile  Thomas  prided  himself  upon  instituting  a 
club  in  the  Pare  Monceau,  composed  of  the  dele- 
gates of  the  brigades  from  the  national  workshops 
as  a  counterpoise  to  the  committee  of  the  Luxem- 
bourg. In  effect  he  organised  an  army  of  insur- 
rection, which  proposed  to  dictate  to  the  National 
Assembly,  which  thereupon  urged  the  dissolution 


LABOUR  CONFERENCES  89 

of  the  club,  and  Trelat,  the  minister  of  pubhc 
works,  caused  Thomas  to  be  arrested  at  night  and 
transported  to  Bordeaux. 

It  has  been  said  that  the  insurrection  of  June 
was  due  to  the  dissolution  of  the  national  work- 
shops ;  nevertheless  the  National  Assembly  had  on 
June  19th  voted  a  credit  of  three  millions  in  their 
favour,  but  the  vote  was  preceded  by  an  unfavour- 
able report  b}^  M.  de  Falloux  proposing  various 
modifications  in  the  organisation  of  labour.  An  en- 
quiry gave  great  dissatisfaction  to  the  brigade 
leaders  by  exposing  the  defalcations.  On  June  22nd 
a  decree  enjoined  all  the  young  men  between  the 
ages  of  seventeen  and  twenty-five  to  enlist  in  the 
army.  In  the  morning  a  number  of  workmen  went 
to  the  Committee  of  the  Luxembourg  to  threaten 
them  and  to  demand  the  organisation  of  workshops 
for  every  calling.  The  insurrection  broke  out  on 
June  23rd,  and  on  the  same  day  the  National 
Assembly  decreed  the  suppression  of  the  national 
workshops. 


CHAPTER    V 
The   Right  to  Work 

Scheme  of  the  committee  of  the  constitutiou — Before  the 
days  of  June — Amendment  of  Mathieu  (of  la  Drome) 
— Lamartine's  argument — Ledru-Rollin's — Observa- 
tion of  Pelletier  (of  Lyons) — Rejection. 

The  organisation  of  the  national  workshops  and 
the  discussions  and  promises  of  the  Luxembourg 
had  demonstrated  the  imprudence  committed  by 
the  Provisional  Government  in  affirming,  in  their 
proclamation  of  February  25th,  the  right  to  work, 
and  of  promising  to  give  effect  to  it.  Nevertheless 
the  draft  constitution  published  on  June  20th,  con- 
tained an  article  (7)  in  the  following  terms :  — 

"The  right  to  work  is  the  right  possessed  by  every 
man  to  live  by  working. 

"It  is  the  duty  of  Society,  by  the  means  of  produc- 
tion and  of  the  general  resources  of  which  it  disposes, 
and  which  will  eventually  be  organised,  to  supply 
work  to  able-bodied  men  who  are  unable  otherwise 
to  procure  it." 

Not  one  of  the  members  of  the  committee  which 
drafted  this  article  had  remarked  upon  its  character. 
Nevertheless  the  riglit  to  work  completely  dis- 
appears in  the  second  draft  constitution  which  was 
read  on  August  29th,  article  viii.  containing  merely 
the  following  provision  :  "  It  is  the  duty  of  the 
Republic  to  provide  the  means  of  subsistence  to 
necessitous  citizens,  to  wit  by  providing  them  with 
work  within  the  limits  of  its  resources.    .    .    ." 

But  Mathieu  (of  la  Drome),  attempted  to  re- 
introduce the  right  to  work  by  modifying  the  article 
in  the  following  manner: — "The  Republic  recog- 
nises the  right  of  all  citizens  to  instruction,  work, 
and  assistance."  To  those  who  objected  on  the 
ground  of  the  net  cost  of  this  right  he  replied, 
"  If  work  is  a  right,  it  matters  little  what  may  be 
the  burden  which  it  imposes  upon  society."       On 


THE  RIGHT  TO  WORK  91 

the  same  day,  September  8th,  less  than  three 
months  after  the  events  of  June,  Lamartine  sup- 
ported it  by  arguments  such  as  the  following : — 
"  In  truth  it  appears  that  you  might  delete  those 
three  magnificent  words  which  you  propose  to 
inscribe  on  the  title  page  of  your  constitution, 
'liberty,  equality,  and  fraternity,'  and  substitute  for 
them  the  convenient  words  'buy  and  sell.'  "  (Pro- 
longed applause). 

Ledru-Rollin  used  an  argument  which  shows 
the  heartless  coolness  with  which  men  of  his  stamp 
thought  to  guide  opinion: — "When  you  register 
the  right  to  work,  you  are  under  no  obligation  to 
have  it  organised  on  the  very  next  day."^  But  he 
enclosed  his  argument  in  this  formula  :  "  The 
right  to  work  is  the  Republic  in  its  prac- 
tical application."  Politicians  like  Billault 
also  supported  the  right  to  work  by  saying  : 
"This  country  is  passionately  attached  to  words; 
you  must  reckon  with  this  predisposition."  Pelle- 
tier,  a  labour  deputy  from  Lyons,  said,  "  if  you  do 
not  know  what  to  do  in  order  to  consecrate  the 
right  to  work  and  to  make  the  people  happy,  the 
people  will  say,  'retire  and  make  room  for  others.'  " 
Mathieu's  amendment,  as  re-amended  by  Glais 
Bizoin,  was  rejected  by  596  votes  to  187.  No  one 
in  France  nowadays  talks  of  the  right  to  work ;  it 
has  gone  to  join  the  other  socialistic  antiquities. 


1  "Le  Droit  au  Travail,"  Eecueil  des  discoure  par  J.  Gamier. 


CHAPTER    VI 

Proudhon's  Theories 

Scholastic  methods — "Property  is  theft" — ''The  proprie- 
tary right  of  the  worker  to  his  produce" — "The 
worker  cannot  purchase  his  produce" — Production  of 
utility  and  diminution  of  value — Solution  of  the 
problem — Freedom  of  credit — The  party  of  labour 
and  the  party  of  capital— "The  government  of  man 
by  man  and  the  exploitation  of  man  by  man"  — 
Anarchy — Opposition  of  the  ancient  guild  to  the 
State  —  The  federal  pact  —  Family  resemblance 
between  the  Utopians  and  Socialists  of  1848. 

Proudhox  was  born  at  Besan^on,  his  father  being 
a  brewer's  cooper.  He  became  a  working  composi- 
tor, and  as  such  he  read  the  "  Fathers  of  the 
Church,"  and  was  initiated  into  Hegel's  dialectics, 
by  i\I.  Chas.  Grun,  "a  German  professor  of 
philosophy,  who  understood  nothing  of  what  he 
taught,"  according  to  Karl  Marx.  Becoming 
acquamted  later  in  life  with  the  science  of 
economics,  he  brought  to  it  the  methods  of 
scholasticism,  and  attempted  by  running  his  head 
against  words  to  cause  the  lightning  to  burst  forth. 
He  was  incapable  of  giving  clear  expression  to  his 
thoughts,  and  sought  to  astonish  the  Philistines 
by  his  answer  to  the  question  propounded  in  the 
title  of  his  work,  published  in  1840,  "What  is 
property?  Property  is  theft."  This  had  not  even 
the  merit  of  originality.  Brissot  de  Warville  in  his 
"  Recherches  philosophiques  sur  le  droit  de  pro- 
priete  et  le  vol"  (1780),  had  said  "private  property 
is  a  theft  as  against  nature.  Its  owner  is  a  thief." 
On  this  point  Proudhon's  doctrine  is  summarised  in 
these  two  propositions:  (i)  The  right  to  possess  is 
the  same  for  all ;  (2)  Man  can  only  work  with  the 
help  of  the  instruments  of  labour.  It  follows  that, 
all  men  having  the  right  to  work,  they  have  an 
equal  right  to  the  instruments  of  work.     Therefore 


PROUDHON'S  THEORIES  93 

(3)  these  instruments  cannot  become  the  object  of 
private  property.  But  in  "La  Theorie  de  la  Pro- 
priete"  (pubHshed  after  his  death  in  1866)  he  says: 
"Property,  if  one  appreciates  its  origin,  is  a  prin- 
ciple inherently  vicious  and  anti-social,  but 
destined  to  become  by  its  own  general  distribution 
and  the  joint  action  of  other  institutions,  the  pivot 
and  mainspring  of  the  social  system." 

In  "Qu'est  ce  que  la  propriete?"  (1840)  he  put 
forward  this  further  idea,  which  is  in  singular  con- 
tradiction with  the  other.  "The  worker  preserves 
a  natural  right  of  property  over  the  thing  which  he 
has  produced,  even  after  the  receipt  of  his  wages." 
That  is  to  say  that  the  tradesman  who  has  sold  an 
apple  to  a  purchaser  preserves  his  right  to  his 
goods  even  after  thev  have  been  consumed.  Never- 
theless, it  is  clear  that  the  workman  receives  wages 
in  exchange  for  a  product  or  a  service,  and  once 
the  product  has  been  delivered,  the  service  ren- 
dered, and  the  wages  received,  the  contract  has 
been  fully  executed,  and  all  obligations  thereunder 
fulfilled. 

Proudhon,  possibly  under  the  influence  of  Rod- 
bertus,  denounces  property  as  rendering  impos- 
sible the  redemption  of  his  produce  bv  the  work- 
man. If  twenty  millions  of  workmen  have  pro- 
vided products  of  a  value  of  twenty  millions  of 
francs  they  are  obliged  to  buy  them  for  twenty-five 
millions.  The  workers  who  ought  to  have  bought 
these  products  in  order  to  live,  are  obliged  to  pay 
five  francs  for  what  they  have  bought  for  four. 
"They  have  to  fast  one  day  in  five."  Workmen 
who  are  members  of  co-operative  societies  have 
learned  the  lesson  that  they  cannot  redeem  what 
they  have  themselves  produced  at  the  price  which 
was  paid  for  it.  There  has  to  be  added  so  much 
per  cent,  upon  the  original  article,  necessary  to 
cover  general  expenses  and  profit,  to  compensate 
unfavourable  purchases  by  the  profit  derived  from 


94  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

purchases  effected  under  favourable  conditions, 
interest  and  depreciation  of  capital,  commission 
paid  to  salesmen,  discounts  to  retail  merchants, 
interest  upon  capital  from  the  time  of  manufacture 
to  the  time  of  sale,  insurance,  etc.  Nevertheless, 
recent  writers,  such  as  Gronlund,  Hertzka  and 
Hobson,  have  sought  to  show  that  this  system  is 
the  cause  of  universal  o\'er-production.^ 

Proudhon's  "Contradictions  Economiques"  are 
a  mere  congeries  of  digressions,  in  which  he  dis- 
cusses everything  under  the  pretence  of  applying 
Hegel's  antinomies.  In  fact,  he  bases  his  book 
entirely  upon  the  conflict  set  up  by  J.  B.  Say  be- 
tween useful  and  exchangeable  vaiue.^  Necessary 
as  they  are  to  one  another,  they  stand  to  one  another 
in  an  inverse  ratio.  In  proportion  as  the  produc- 
tion of  utility  increases,  its  value  diminishes. 
Proudhon  added  that  this  contradiction  is 
necessary.  Accordingly,  the  more  the  nations 
work,  the  poorer  they  become.  And  he  added  the 
words,  "The  philosophy  of  misery"  as  the  sub- 
title of  his  work.  I  have  explained  in  my  book 
"La  Science  Economique"'  how  this  problem  is 
stated  and  have  given  the  following  solution  :  — 
The  criterion  of  economic  pros^ress  is  the  absolute 
and  relative  increase  in  the  value  of  fixed  capital, 
the  decrease  in  the  value  of  the  units  of  circulating 
capital,  and  the  increase  in  their  total  value. 

Proudhon  concludes  his  book  by  pointing  out  the 
existing  confusion  between  his  conceptions  when 
he  says  that  the  object  of  economic  science  is 
"justice."  In  order  to  establish  this  he  is  obliged 
to  include  in  a  "general  equation"  all  his  economic 
contradictions.^  "My  philosopher's  stone,"  he  says, 
"is  gratuitous  credit  and  the  abolition  of  money." 

1  Bourguin,    '"Les  Systemes  eocialistes,"   p.   318. 

2  "Qu'est  ce  que  la   propriete,"  p.  94. 

3  Srd  ed.     Book  vi.,  ch.    i.,   p.   233. 

4  "Contradictions  economiques,"  eh.   ii, 


PROUDHON'S  THEORIES  95 

As  against  various  parties,  he  sets  up  two,  the 
party  of  labour  and  the  party  of  capital.  This  is 
the  struggle  of  classes,  the  conception  of  which  he 
develops  in  his  book  "  De  la  capacite  des  classes 
ouvri^res"  (1863). 

Proudhon  adopts  the  assertion  of  Helvetius,  that 
the  capacitv  of  all  human  beings  is  equal  and  is 
differentiated  merely  by  the  circumstances  of  educa- 
tion and  environment.  The  value  of  each  man's 
labour  at  the  same  time  is,  therefore,  the  same,  and 
the  proper  amount  of  wages  should  be  the  amount 
of  the  total  produce  divided  by  the  number  of 
workers. 

He  proclaims  the  end  of  the  "government  of  man 
by  man"  and  of  the  "exploitation  of  man  by  man." 
Does  he  desire  that  man  should  be  governed  by 
apes  ?  He  is  often,  in  fact,  governed  bv  women,  by 
children,  and  by  his  own  passions.  He  is  not  ex- 
ploited only*  by  man ;  he  is  exploited  by  all  the 
forces  of  nature  over  which  it  is  his  duty  to 
triumph,  by  microbes  and  insects  against  which  he 
has  so  much  difficultv  in  defending  himself,  and, 
above  all,  by  his  prejudices  and  by  the  charlatans 
who  know  how  to  use  them  to  their  own  advantage. 
Proudhon  behaves  like  a  man  who  beats  a  big 
drum  in  order  to  attract  children,  when  he  employs 
the  antithesis  of  which  he  has  alreadv  made  use  as 
regards  property,  and  exclaims  that  "anarchy  is  the 
true  form  of  government."  And  he  is  careful,  in 
order  to  complete  the  confusion  of  the  thoughtless, 
to  explain  the  etymology  of  the  word  "anarchy"  as 
meaning  the  absence  or  negation  of  government. 
He  then  develops  his  theme  by  repeating  an  idea 
of  St.  Simon's.  "The  science  of  government 
rightly  pertains  to  a  section  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences,  and  inasmuch  as  every  citizen  may  send 
a  thesis  to  the  Academy,  every  citizen  is  a  legis- 
lator.    The  people  constitutes  the  guardian  of  the 


96  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

law,  the  people  constitutes  the  executive  power. "^ 
In  another  work  he  adds  to  this  quibble  the  declara- 
tion that  "  the  workshop  will  cause  government  to 
disappear." 

There  reappears  in  this  declaration  a  conception 
of  the  ancient  guild  or  corporation  as  an  autono- 
mous, exclusive  body,  opposed  to  everything  which 
is  not  itself  and  to  all  general  interests.  He  con- 
cludes with  his  romance  of  the  "federative  pact," 
and  imagines  that  he  can,  by  unrehearsed  effect, 
transform  France  by  subdividing  it  into  thirty-six 
sovereignties  of  a  mean  extent  of  6,000  square 
kilometres,  each  with  a  million  of  inhabitants.^ 
He  did  not  condescend  to  observe  that  a  federation 
is  a  grouping  of  independent  states;  when  a  centra- 
lised state  is  subdivided,  the  operation  is  the  exact 
opposite  of  federation  ;  the  proper  name  for  it  is 
dismemberment  and  its  consequence  dissolution. 

He  virulently  attacked  Louis  Blanc's  childish 
ideas  on  "labour  as  a  point  of  honour,"  Fourier's 
on  the  phalanstery  and  Cabet's  on  fraternity,  yet  he 
employs  their  vocabularv  against  the  exploitation 
of  man  by  man,  he  demands  the  confiscation  of  the 
instruments  of  labour  and  their  delivery  to  the 
workers ;  he  desires  the  abolition  of  competition 
and,  while  proclaiming  himself  as  an  anarchist,  he 
appeals  to  the  State  to  realise  his  conceptions. 
However  hostile  they  may  be  to  one  another,  all  the 
LTtopians  of  1848  present  a  family  resemblance, 
they  are  all  obscure  and  declamatory,  pin  their  faith 
to  empty  and  sonorous  phrases,  and  disregard 
actual  facts. 

1  "Qu'est  ce  qne  la  propriety?"  p.  242. 

2  "Du  principe  fed^ratif,"  1863. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Proudhon's  Proposed  Decrees  and  the  Bank 

OF  Exchange 

Dissatisfied  with  the  Revolution  of  1848 — Proposed 
decrees — The  Banqiie  du  Peuple — Influence  upon  the 
Commune  of  1871,  and  upon  the  General  Confedera- 
tion of  Labour — Colonel  Langlois. 

Proudhon  was  frank  enough  to  express  his  dis- 
satisfaction with  the  Revolution  of  1848,  which 
disquieted  more  than  it  pleased  the  various 
Socialists  who  were  called  upon  to  put  their  ideas 
into  practice.  Proudhon  called  upon  the  State  to 
publish  the  following  decrees. 

The  Government  is  to  decree  that  "direct  ex- 
change, without  specie  or  interest,  is  derived  from 
natural  law  and  public  utility;  the  Bank  shall  add 
to  its  functions  that  of  a  Bank  of  Exchange,  and 
fix  the  rate  of  discount  at  one  per  cent." 

A  second  decree  was  to  provide  that  "  whereas  the 
law  ought  to  be  the  same  for  all,  funded  stocks  paid 
by  the  State  shall  be  converted  into  one  per  cent, 
stock  until  they  are  finally  redeemed." 

By  a  third  decree  the  interest  on  mortgages  is 
reduced  to  one  per  cent.  "The  execution  of  the 
present  decree  is  entrusted  to  those  citizens  who  are 
burdened  with  mortgages." 

A  fifth  decree  reduces  the  interest  and  dividend 
of  limited  companies  to  one  per  cent.  A  sixth 
fixes  house  rent  at  the  same  figure.  A  seventh 
reduces  rents  by  twenty-five  per  cent,  calculated 
upon  the  average  of  the  twenty  last  preceding 
years ;  the  value  of  the  properties  assessed  to  be 
calculated  by  taking  the  rent  allowed  at  x  per  cent, 
of  the  capital ;  when  by  the  accumulation  of  annual 
payments  the  owner  has  recovered  the  value  of  his 
estate  with  a  premium  of  twenty  per  cent,  by  way 
of  an  indemnity,  the  property  is  to  revert  to  the 
central  agricultural  society  which  is  charged  with 

G 


98  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

the  organisation  of  agriculture.  "All  land  not 
under  cultivation  is  to  revert  to  the  State."  Other 
decrees  effect  the  reduction  of  salaries  and  wages, 
according  to  the  scale  suggested  for  Government 
salaries.  By  the  twelfth  decree,  "  After  determining 
the  debit  of  each  citizen  by  the  assessment  of 
salaries  and  wages,  his  credit  is  to  be  determined  by 
an  assessment  of  the  price  of  commodities." 

On  January  31st,  1849,  Proudhon  founded  the 
Banque  du  Peiiple  upon  the  following  principles  : 
All  raw  material  is  supplied  to  man  gratuitously  by 
nature ;  in  the  economic  system  all  production  is 
derived  from  labour,  and  correspondingly  all 
capital  is  unproductive;  inasmuch  as  every  com- 
bination of  credit  resolves  itself  into  an  exchange, 
the  productiveness  of  capital  and  the  discount  of 
values  cannot  and  ought  not  to  give  rise  to  any 
interest.  The  object  of  the  Bank  was  to  organise 
credit  on  a  democratic  basis:  (i)  by  obtaining  for 
all,  at  the  lowest  price  and  under  the  best  possible 
conditions,  the  use  of  the  land,  of  houses, 
machinery,  instruments  of  labour,  capital,  produce 
and  services  of  every  kind ;  (2)  by  providing  for  all 
an  outlet  for  their  production  and  the  application 
of  their  labour  under  the  most  advantageous  condi- 
tions. The  capital  of  the  Bank  was  five  millions  of 
francs,  divided  into  a  million  shares  of  five  francs 
each,  but  liable  to  pay  interest. ^  Unlike  ordinary 
drafts  payable  to  order  and  in  cash,  the  circulating 
medium  of  the  Banque  du  Peuple  was  a  delivery 
order  clothed  with  a  socialistic  character  and  pay- 
able at  sight  by  every  member  or  customer  in  the 
products  or  services  of  his  industry  or  calling. 
Settlement  for  purchases  and  sales  between  the 
different  customers  was  to  be  by  the  reciprocal  ex- 
change of  their  products  and  services  and  was  to 
be  effected  by  means  of  paper  issued  by  the  Bank, 
styled  "Circulation  tickets."    (Bon  de  circulation). 

Desiardios,  "Proudhon,"  i.,  p.  134. 


PROUDHON'S  PROPOSED  DECREES  99 

The  Bank  never  commenced  business.  Proud- 
hon  having  been  prosecuted  for  two  articles  pub- 
Hshed  in  the  "Peuple,"  and  sentenced  to  a  term  of 
three  vears'  imprisonment,  fled  to  Belgium.  He 
was  able  to  say  that,  as  his  Bank  was  not  put  into 
operation,  its  principle  remained  valid,  but  he 
made  no  attempt  to  realise  it  later,  which  was  dis- 
appointing from  the  experimental  point  of  view. 
He  would  then  have  discovered  that  the  abolition  of 
money  would  not  have  contributed  to  facilitate 
exchange,  and  that  by  refusing  to  remunerate  the 
giving  of  credit  he  would  have  failed  to  obtain  it. 
Attempts  to  establish  exchanges  of  this  kind  were 
made  for  fifteen  years,  and  failed  miserably. 

Proudhon's  inspiration  exercised  some  influence 
upon  the  Paris  Commune.  The  manifesto  of 
April  19th,  1871,  was  composed  of  more  or  less 
heterogeneous  extracts  from  his  works.  According 
to  M.  Bourguin^  there  are  still  some  of  his  disciples 
among  the  French  Socialists,  and  something  of  his 
ideas  is  to  be  found  in  the  working  programme  of 
the  General  Confederation  of  Labour,  which  sets 
up  the  trade  union  in  opposition  to  the  State,  and 
expects  to  effect  the  triumph  of  the  pretensions  of 
each  group  at  the  expense  of  the  general  interest. 

In  1848  Proudhon  made  a  violent  attack  upon 
universal  suffrage  to  which  the  supporters  of  trade 
unions  plainly  oppose  the  struggle  between  various 
organisations,  but  without  losing  themselves,  as 
Proudhon  did,  in  digressions  for  the  purpose  of 
justifying  their  right  to  adopt  this  attitude.  Proud- 
hon's schemes  were  caprices  rather  than  ideas. 
These  he  tried  to  co-ordinate,  and  when  he  failed 
he  sought  to  throw  the  responsibility  for  his  failure 
upon  the  intelligence  of  his  fellow  citizens. 

I  once  had  some  conversations  with  Colonel 
Langlois,    who  claimed  to  be  the  true  disciple  of 

1     Bourguin,   "Proudhon,"   1901. 


100  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Proudhon,  and  I  have  several  times  heard  him  say 
with  pride,  when  speaking  of  one  or  other  of 
Proudhon's  works.,  "No  one  but  myself  has 
understood  him." 


BOOK    III 

THE    POSTULATES    OF    GERMAN 
SOCIALISM 


CHAPTER   I 

"  True  "  Socialism 

Contempt  for  French  Socialists — Apology  for  German 
Socialism — Communism,  Collectivism,  and  Socialism 
synonymous — Programmes  of  Saint  Mande  and  of 
the  Havre  Congress. 

'Socialists  who  range  themselves  under  Karl 
Marx  say:  Plato,  Campanella,  More,  Morally, 
Owen,  Sahit  Simon,  Fourier,  Cabet,  Considerant, 
and  Louis  Blanc  forsooth  !  Why  tell  us  of  all  these 
Socialists.  Utopians,  dreamers,  and  more  or  less 
enlightened  makers  of  literature,  all  so  far  removed 
from  all  reality  ?  Neither  Owen,  nor  Pierre  Leroux 
were  worthy  to  invent  the  word  "socialism."  As  for 
Proudhon,  who  said  "Every  man  is  a  socialist  who 
concerns  himself  with  social  reform,"  he  proved 
that  despite  his  pretension,  he  belonged  to  those 
socialists  of  the  clubs,  the  salons,  and  the  vestries 
who  indulged  in  elegiac,  declamatory,  and  senti- 
mental socialism  in  and  about  1848. 

Proudhon  was  nothing  but  a  "petit  bourgeois" 
as  Karl  Marx  said.  There  is  but  one  true  socialism, 
the  socialism  of  Germany,  whose  formula  was  pro- 
pounded by  Karl  Marx  and  Engels  in  the 
"Communistic  Manifesto"  of  1848. 

They  chose  "communism"  because  the  word 
"socialism"  had  been  too  much  discredited  at  the 
time,  but  they  subsequently  resumed  it,  for  the  logi- 
cal conclusion  of  all  socialism  is  communism.  The 
word  "collectivism,"  says  Paul  Lafargue,  was  only 
invented  in  order  to  spare  the  susceptibilities  of 
some  of  the  more  timorous.  It  is  synonymous 
with  the  word  "communism."  Every  socialistic 
programme,  be  it  the  programme  of  St.  Mand6, 
published  in  1896  by  M.  Millerand,  which  lays 
down  that  "collectivism  is  the  secretion  of  the 
capitalist  regime,"  or  that  of  the  Havre  Congress, 


104  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

drawn  up  by  Karl  Marx,  and  carried  on  the  motion 
of  Jules  Guesde,  concludes  with  "the  poHtical  and 
economic  expropriation  of  the  capitaHst  class  and 
the  return  to  collective  ownership  of  all  the  means 
of  production." 

But  is  this  conclusion  really  so  very  different 
from  that  of  their  predecessors  whom  they  treat 
with  such  scorn  ?  What  claim  have  Karl  Marx, 
Engels,  and  their  followers  to  prefix  the  word 
"scientific"  to  the  word  "socialism?" 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Claims  of  jMarx  and  Engels 
For  Germany — Against  Rodbertus — Against  Lassalle. 

Karl  Marx  and  Engels,  while  declaring  them- 
selves to  be  internationalists  and  communists, 
begin  by  themselves  failing  in  their  pretensions. 
Far  from  admitting  that  the  French  communists 
and  socialists  were  their  precursors,  they  never 
cease  to  load  them  with  scorn  and  contempt.  They 
refuse  to  be  under  any  obligation  to  those  French- 
men whose  powers  of  persuasion  they  detest  and 
who  expect  clearness  in  others  although  they  lack 
it  themselves,  and  they  are  unable  to  submit  to  a 
"discipline  of  pedants."  Karl  Marx  and  Engels 
want  to  convert  socialism  into  a  German  monopoly, 
and  when  Marx  says  "Proletariat  of  all  nations, 
unite,"  what  he  means  is  "Pan-Germanise." 

At  the  same  time  they  bitterly  contend  with  their 
own  compatriots  for  the  private  proprietorship  of 
their  formulae,  refusing  to  share  them  with  anyone. 
Rodbertus  claimed  that  Karl  Marx  had  borrowed 
his  ideas.  Engels  asserts  that  Marx  had  never 
beheld  any  of  Rodbertus'  publications  before  1858 
and  1859.  Inasmuch  as  Rodbertus'  first  publica- 
tion was  issued  in  1837,  he  in  his  turn  expresses 
astonishment  that  Marx,  who  claimed  to  know 
everything,  should  pretend  to  such  profound  and 
long-continued  ignorance  with  respect  to  him. 
In  revenge,  Engels  freely  admits  that  Proud- 
hon  owes  his  conception  of  value  to  Rodbertus 
— another  instance  of  Pan-Germanism.  But 
Engels  is  constrained  to  admit  that  Rod- 
bertus and  Marx  both  drew  from  the  same 
English  source,  Ricardo,  and  says,  "It  does  not 
occur  to  Rodbertus'  mind  that  Karl  Marx  may  have 
been  able  to  draw  his  conclusions  unaided  from 
Ricardo  as  well  as  Rodbertus  did  himself."  At  all 
events  Rodbertus  has  the  advantage  of  priority  in 


io6  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

date,  and  despite  their  violent  denials,  Marx  and 
Engels  are  the  disciples  of  that  great  Pomeranian 
landed  proprietor,  the  representative  of  the  great 
landowners  in  the  provincial  assemblies  and  in  the 
Prussian  Parliament,  and,  therefore,  actually  a 
champion  of  class  distinctions.  In  his  dislike  of 
the  French  Revolution,  Karl  Marx,  himself  the 
son-in-law  of  a  Prussian  "Junker,"  transfers  to  it 
the  hatred  entertained  for  it  by  his  wife's  family, 
and  Paul  Lafargue  inherited  it  from  him. 

As  for  Lassalle,  Karl  Marx  treated  him  with  con- 
tempt. In  his  preface  to  "Capital,"  written  in 
1867,  he  says  of  him  (he  died  in  1864),  "While 
abstaining  from  indicating  their  origin,  he  has 
borrowed  from  my  writings,  almost  word  for  word, 
all  the  theoretical  propositions  of  his  economic 
writings." 


CHAPTER   III 

The  Sources  of  German  Socialism 

Formulae  of  Saint  Simon  and  Ricardo. 

German  Socialism  is  derived  from  two  sources:  — 

(i).     The  French  doctrine  of  Saint  Simon,  "The 

way  to  grow  rich  is  to  make  others  work  for 

one,"  which  became  in   Proudhon's  works, 

"The  exploitation  of  man  by  man." 

(2).     Three  formulae  of  Ricardo,  viz.  :  (a)  Labour 

is   the    measure   of    value;    (b)  the  price  of 

labour  is  that  which   provides  the  labourer 

in  general  with  the  means  of  subsistence  and 

of    perpetuating    his    species  without    either 

increase  or  diminution  ;  (c)  profits  decrease  in 

proportion  as  wages  increase. 

Formula  (b),   became  the  "iron  law  of  wages"  of 

Lassalle.     The    French    doctrines    and    Ricardo's 

three   formulas  became   Rodbertus'  theory  of   the 

"normal  time  of  labour,"  and  of  Karl  Marx'  and 

Engels'  "surplus  labour." 


CHAPTER    IV 

Formula  B  and  the  "Iron  Law  of  Wages" 

Turgot  and  wages — The  actual  price  of  labour  and  the 
price  of  the  means  of  subsistence — Ricardo — Lassalle 
and  the  "iron  law  of  wages" — Graduation  of  wages  in 
the  city  of  Paris — Rise  of  wages  and  diminution  of 
the  price  of  the  means  of  subsistence — Share  of  capi- 
tal and  of  labour  in  production  in  the  United  States 
— Bastiat  and  Rodbertus. 

Turgot  said :  "  The  price  at  which  the  poor 
workman  sells  his  labour  does  not  depend  upon 
himself."  But  does  the  price  at  which  the  merchant 
vends  his  goods  depend  upon  himself?  If  no  one 
wants  them,  no  one  will  take  them. 

Ricardo  having  based  his  theory  of  value  entirely 
upon  labour,  attempted  to  find  a  mean  or  standard 
for  it.  He  says,  somewhat  vaguely,  "The  natural 
price  of  labour  is  that  price  which  is  necessary  to 
enable  the  labourers,  one  with  another,  to  subsist 
and  to  perpetuate  their  race,  without  either  increase 
or  diminution  .  .  .  The  natural  price  of  labour, 
therefore,  depends  on  the  price  of  the  food,  neces- 
saries, and  conveniences  required  for  the  support 
of  the  labourer  and  his  family. ^  Nevertheless,  he 
recognised  that  "the  natural  price  of  labour^ 
estimated  even  in  food  and  necessaries,  is  not  abso- 
lutely fixed  and  constant."  He  added  that,  "an 
English  workman  would  consider  his  wages  under 
their  natural  rate  and  too  scanty  to  support  a  family 
if  they  enabled  him  to  purchase  no  other  food  than 
potatoes,  and  to  live  in  no  better  habitation  than  a 
mud  cabin." 

Lassalle's  sonorous  metaphor  of  "the  iron  law 
of  wages"  is  derived  from  Ricardo's  formula.  It 
implies  the  equality  of  wages,  and  in  1848  the  work- 
men were  so  fully  aware  that  it  was  fallacious  that 

1  Ricardo,  "Principles  of  Political  Economy,"  ch.  v. 


THE  "IRON  LAW  OF  WAGES"       109 

Louis  Blanc  was  obliged  at  the  Luxembourg  to 
refuse  his  support  to  the  principle  of  equality  of 
wages  which  he  had  preached.  The  graduated 
scale  of  wages  in  the  city  of  Paris  was  set  up  by  the 
workmen  themselves  in  1880.  The  scale  of  wages 
of  the  several  classes  of  workmen  in  the  building 
trade  is  as  follows,  according  to  the  "Bordereaux 
des  Salaires"  published  by  the  Labour  Bureau  in 
1902  : 

1880.  1900. 

Bricklayer 0.75  0.80 

Stone-mason     0.75  0.85 

Rough-caster    i.oo  1.20 

Carpenter      0.80  0.90 

Navvy    0.50  0.50 

The  navvy  does  not  buy  his  bread  cheaper  than 
the  rough-caster.  If  the  "iron  law"  applies  to  the 
former,  it  does  not  apply  to  the  latter. 

Mr.  Bowley  in  his  "  Progress  of  the  Nation"  com- 
pares wages  with  M.  Sauerbeck's  "Index  Num- 
bers," in  which  the  means  of  subsistence  play  an 
important  part. 

ooooo^giaS!5S 
oocoojoooocooocoooooc^ 

Average  wages         45  50  50  55  60  70  70  72  84  93  100 
Sauerbeck's  Index- 
numbers  100  77  99  94  88  82  69  82  73     61 

Wages  have  doubled  between  1840  and  1900, 
rising  from  50  to  100,  or  rather  from  100  to  200, 
while  prices  have  fallen  from  100  to  61.  There- 
fore, in  1840,  ;^ioo  in  wages  would  pay  for  ;^ioo 
in  commodities.  In  1900,  ;^200  in  wages  would 
pay  for  more  than  three  times  (3.2)  ^61  in  com- 
modities. Consequently  the  value  of  wages  has 
risen  in  the  proportion  of  i  to  3.2,  or,  say,  220 
per  cent. 

Rodbertus  enunciated  a  formula  which  Socialists 
who  claim  to  be  scientific  attempt  to  substitute  for 
the  "iron  law  of  wages."    This  is  "that  the  increase 


no 


SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 


in  the  productivity  of  labour  involves  the  reduction 
in  the  wages  of  the  working  classes  to  a  constantly 
decreasing  fraction  of  the  social  product." 

I  take  the  figures  contained  in  the  census  of  the 
whole  of  the  industries  of  the  United  States: — ■ 


Cfl 

K  -< 

h.  a: 

H 

z  s 

SO 

Z       LO 

X    ^  <T 

2      eg 

< 

m 
> 

< 

O    H 

o 

s  = 
3§ 

<  a: 
>2- 

-5 « 

Cost  of 
roductio 

PART   FRO 

Wages. 

o    . 

EC  '^ 

ETURN     0 

Capital 
1.  7— col. 

Vagks  pk 

WORKMA 

1.5— col. 

Ratb  of 

BTDRN     o 

Capital. 
I.  8-col 

z  < 

o 

,?  ° 

OS       o 

.--■     o 

—      o 

^ 

H 

o  ^ 

^ 

'•^ 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

$  mills 

.*  mills. 

mills. 

$  mills. 

S  mills. 

g  mills. 

S  mills. 

$ 

1890 

6525 

9369 

4251 

1891 

5793 

3576 

1685 

445 

25,8 

1905 

13872 

16866 

6152 

3014 

11148 

5718 

2704 

490 

19.5 

7347 

7497 

1901 

1123 

5355 

2142 

1019 

45 

-6,3 

Improvements  in  plant  have  not  taken  away  work 
from  the  workmen,  seeing  that  their  numbers  in- 
creased by  44  per  cent,  between  1890  and  1905.  The 
rate  of  return  on  capital  has  decreased  by  24  per 
cent.,  while  wages  have  risen  11  per  cent.  This  is 
a  condemnation  of  Rodbertus'  formula  and  a  con- 
firmation of  Bastiat's,  which  he  expresses  as  fol- 
lows:—"In  proportion  as  capital  increases,  the 
absolute  share  of  capitalists  in  the  total  amount  of 
production  increases,  and  their  relative  share  de- 
creases. The  workmen,  on  the  other  hand,  see 
their  share  increasing  in  both  respects. "^ 

1  Discussions  a  la  Societe  statistique  de  Paris;  seance  du 
20  Janvier  et  du  17  avril,  1909;  Journal  de  la  Societe  de  Statis- 
tique,  fevrier  et  avril,  1909. 


CHAPTER     V 

Formula  A.     Work  the  Measure  of  Value 

Rodbertus — The  working  hour — "The  social  will" — Work 
tickets  or  vouchers — The  equalisation  of  values — 
Rodbertus  alarmed — Inconsistencies  of  Karl  Marx 
and  Engels. 

Rodbertus,  about  1842,  sought  to  determine  the 
"standard  of  work"  as  the  measure  of  value,  under 
the  name  of  the  "normal  period  of  work" 
(Arbeitszeit). 

'Inasmuch  as  a  working  day  has  a  different  produc- 
tive value  in  different  kinds  of  production,  different 
kinds  of  work  should  be  assessed  relatively  to  one 
another  and  uniformly  expressed  in  terms  of  a 
standard  unit  of  work-time.  In  a  particular  class  of 
work  a  working  day  contains  so  many  hours  by  the 
clock,  or  a  working  hour  so  many  minutes  by  the 
clock  ;  in  another  class  of  work  it  contains  so  many 
hours  and  so  many  minutes  respectively.  This  pre- 
sents no  obstacle  to  a  division  of  the  standard  day  or 
the  standard  hour,  in  the  different  kinds  of 
production,  into  a  uniform  number  of  standard  hours 
or  minutes  of  work.  This  will  give  in  and  for  every 
kind  of  production  a  species  of  scale  by  which  to 
measure  the  productive  value  of  a  given  period  of 
work. 

''The  difficulty  arising  from  the  differences 
among  various  workmen  can  be  removed  by  the 
standard  daily  task  (Normales  Tagewerk)." 

This  settles  the  whole  question.  The  "social 
will"  of  the  vState  decrees  the  standard  period  of 
work.  This  "social  will  decides  and  fixes  where 
individual  wills  had  debated  and  compromised." 
This  ".social  will"  implies  "a  separate  organ  of 
society  to  administer  its  land  and  its  capital,  and 
to  preside  over  .social  production  and  distribution." 
This  central  organ,  "of  monarchical  or  democratic 
origin" — it  matters  little  from  the  economic  point 
of  view — is  to  embrace  in  itself  all  economic  func- 
tions.    Public  needs  are  determined  by  the  "social 


112  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

will,"  as  represented  by  the  Prince  of  the  Assem- 
bh'es.  Individual  needs  are  fixed  by  the  standard 
period  of  work.  "The  time  which  everyone  who 
takes  part  in  production  consents  to  devote  to  pro- 
ductive work  determines  the  limits  of  the  means 
which  are  sufficient  to  cover  the  range  of  everyone's 
needs."  The  limits  being  ascertained,  one  knows 
"what  is  the  nature  of  the  needs  which  are  to  be 
satisfied,  and  therefore  the  nature  and  quantity  of 
the  articles  which  are  to  be  produced."  From  the 
time  when  "the  duration  of  work  is  a  common 
measure  of  productive  power,  as  well  as  of  needs, 
nothing  can  be  clearer  than  the  manner  in  which 
to  proceed." 

The  administration  may,  (i)  fix  the  value  of  all 
products  "  by  fixing  the  value  of  the  produce  of  the 
labour  of  each  individual  in  terms  of  every  other 
kind  of  product,  and  consequently  in  terms  also 
of  articles  for  consumption  or  finished  products" 
(p.  117);  and  (2)  create  a  currency  which  answers 
fully  to  the  requirements  of  a  currency. 

The  economic  administration  would  remit  to  each 
producer  a  receipt  for  so  much  standard  work,  repre- 
sented by  the  actual  produce  created  by  him  in 
accordance  with  the  rules  herein  set  forth.  This 
document  would  bear  an  exact  statement  of  the  value 
created  by  its  holder,  and  would  therefore  serve  in 
his  hands  as  a  voucher  for  an  equal  value.  He  could 
then  use  it  to  obtain  payment  for  his  labour  in  the 
social  magazines  in  the  form  of  articles  of  consump- 
tion in  exchange  for  the  voucher. 

This  currency  would  form  a  perfeci  measure  of 
value,  since  each  voucher  would  state  the  precise 
quantity  of  value  which  had  been  worked  out ;  in  the 
second  place  it  would  afford  an  absolute  security,  in- 
asmuch as  it  would  only  be  issued  if  the  value 
expressed  upon  it  in  fact  existed ;  in  the  third  place 
it  would  cost  nothing,  as  it  would  be  merely  a  piece 
of  paper  with  no  intrinsic  worth,  yet  capable  of 
forming  a  perfect  substitute  for  money,  (pp.  126- 
127.) 


WORK  THE  MEASURE  OF  VALUE     113 

"By  properly  following  the  rule,"  said  Rod- 
bertus,  "  the  sum  total  of  value  to  be  disposed  of 
must  be  exactly  equal  to  the  total  value  certified ; 
and  inasmuch  as  the  total  value  certified  corres- 
ponds exactly  to  the  total  value  allotted,  the  latter 
must  necessarily  resolve  itself  into  available  value, 
all  requirements  are  satisfied  and  the  values  balance 
accurately." 

Although  Rodbertus  was  an  agriculturist,  he 
forgets  that  a  fortnight  of  drought  or  of  rain  might 
disturb  this  beautiful  equilibrium.  Still,  he  worked 
it  out  and  had  it  verified  by  one  of  the  overseers  of 
the  public  debt  in  Pomerania,  and  therefore  asserts 
that  it  supplies  ever)'-  guarantee  of  soundness.  He 
admits,  however,  that  "in  the  absence  of  special 
legislation,  it  is  impossible  for  work  to  be  the 
measure  of  value." 

Karl  Marx,  in  order  to  prove  that  he  was  not  a 
disciple  of  Rodbertus,  made  fun  of  this  childish 
system,  which  pre-supposes  that  an  administration 
can  set  up  an  exact  relation  between  the  value  of 
gems  and  of  manure,  as  determined  by  a  standard 
of  working  time,  regardless  of  demand  and  supply, 
which   can   onlv  be  indicated  by  competition. 

When  Karl  Alarx's  "Capital"  appeared  in  1867, 
Rodbertus,  the  conservative  and  landowner,  was 
alarmed,  like  a  hen  which  has  hatched  ducklings. 
In  order  to  reassure  himself  and  his  fellow  landed 
proprietors,  he  proposed  "to  consider  the  function 
of  the  capitalist  employer  as  a  public  function 
entrusted  to  him  by  the  medium  of  capitalist  pro- 
perty, and  his  profit  as  a  form  of  salary.  But 
salaries  can  be  regulated  or  reduced  if  they  become 
unduly  large." 

All  systems  of  collectivist  organisation  end, 
through  the  force  of  circumstances,  in  vouchers  for 
work,  and  the  witticisms  of  Marx  and  Engels  only 
go  to  prove  the  incoherence  of  their  own  theories. 


H 


i. 


CHAPTER    VI 

Karl  Marx  and  Formul.^  A,  B,  and  C 

Ricardo's  formula  and  Marx'  amendment— A  third 
mysterious  quantity — "Labour  power" — Definition 
of  value — Surplus  value. 

ii.  Variable  capital  and  surplus-value  —  Example — 
1,307.69  per  cent.— Total  surplus  value  proceeding 
from  2.50  per  cent,  of  capital — The  vampire. 

iii.  Disinterestedness  of  the  "vampires"— Destruction  of 
surplus  value  by  establishment. 

iv.  The  elements  of  profit — Marx'  assertion  that  estab- 
lishment is  not  a  factor  in  profit. 

v.     Raw  material — Definition  of  profits. 

vi.  Variation  in  surplus-value — Marx'  and  Engels' 
qualifications — The  theory  abandoned — Profit  is 
derived,  not  from  the  quantity  of  unpaid  labour,  hut 
from  the  management  of  the  enterjorise. 

I. 

Ricardo  said  :   "The  value  of  a  commodity  depends 
upon  the  amount  of  the  labour  necessary  to  produce 
it."     This  definition  has  the  advantage  of  simpli- 
city,  and  therefore  did   not  suit  Karl   Marx,  who 
adopted  Ricardo's  definition,  with  the  substitution 
of  the    expression    "labour-power"    for    "labour," 
and  this   constitutes    his    great    discovery    to   the 
admiring    eyes    of     Engels.^       But    he    does    not 
always  make  use  of  this  complementary  expression. 
In  order  to  establish  his  proposition,  Karl  Marx 
starts  with  the  elementary  arithmetical  truism  that 
two  quantities  which  are  equal  to  a  third  are  equal 
to  one  another.       Let  us  see  how  this  truism  be- 
comes distorted  by  Karl  ^larx's  dialectical  method. 
A    given    quantity    of   corn   is   equated   to   some 
quantity  of  iron.     What  does  this  equation  tell  us? 
It  tells  us  that  in  two  different  things  there  exists  in 
equal  quantities  something  common  to  both.       The 
two  things  must  therefore  be  equal  to  a  third,  which 

1  "Das  Kapital"  (German  edition),  Introduction  to  vol.  iii. 


FORMULA   A,   B,  AND  C  115 

in  itself  is  neither  the  one  nor  the  other.       Each  of 
them  must  be  reducible  to  the  third,  independently 
of  the  other.  ^ 
In   exchange,    these  two   commodities   are  equal 
to  the  reciprocal  desire  of  their  two  owners  to  ex- 
change them,  and  in  proportion  to  such  desire.  As 
monev  serves  as  the  common  denominator  in  ex- 
change, the.se  two  quantities  are  equal  to  a  certain 
quantity  of  monev.     Karl  Marx  does  not  care  to  take 
the  facts  leading  to  this  conclusion   into  account. 
He  supposes  that  this  third  quantity  is  the  mys- 
terious quantity  of  labour  which  is  incorporated  in 
the  corn  and  the  iron.     His  great  discovery  is  then 
complete  :  — 

"The  value  of  each  commodity  is  determined  by  the 
quantity  of  labour  expended  on  and  materialised  in 
it,  by  the  working-time  necessary,  under  given  Bocial 
conditions,  for  its  production."  - 

In  Karl  Marx'  view,  value  cannot  be  the  relation 
between  the  desire  and  the  need  of  two  individuals. 
He  declares  that  "value  only  consists  in  articles 
of  utility,  in  an  object."  Still  labour-power  is  not 
an  object ;  it  is  the  expression  of  an  effort,  which  may 
even  possibly  remain  without  any  result.  In  order 
to  meet  this  objection,  Karl  Marx  declares  that 
"man  himself,  viewed  as  the  impersonation  of 
labour-power,  is  a  natural  object,"^  and  further  that 
"  the  real  value  of  a  commodity  is  not  its  individual 
value,  but  its  social  value."''  Value  is  defined  as 
"a  definite  social  manner  of  expressing  the  amount 
of  labour  bestowed  upon  an  object. "=  Karl  Marx 
takes  care  to  call  attention  to  the  importance  of  this 
conception  of  value,  "  the  discovery  of  value  marks 
an  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  development  of  the 

1  "Das   Kapital."   vol.    i.,  chap.    i. 

2  Ibid,  vol.  i.,    chap,   vii.,   §2. 

3  Ibid,  vol.   i.,   chap.   viii. 

4  Ibid,  vol.  i.,  chap.  vii. 

5  Ibid,  vol.  i.,  chap.  i. 


ii6  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

human  race."^  Nevertheless  Engels  subsequently 
said  that  even  if  Marx'  law  of  value  ought  not  to 
be  considered  as  inaccurate,  it  is  too  vague,  and  is 
capable  of  being  laid  down  with  greater  precision, 
and  he  recognises  that  it  fails  to  correspond  with 
actual  facts.  Werner  Sombart  declares  that  "the 
law  of  value  is  not  an  empiric  fact,  but  a  fact 
founded  upon  ideas,  a  stimulus  to  our  minds." 
Another  disciple,  Bernstein,  looks  upon  it  as  a 
"subjective  conception,"  and  Karl  Marx  in  his 
third  volume  recognises  that  it  is  entirely  removed 
from  reality  by  saying  that  "the  cost  of  production 
includes  not  only  labour-power  and  work-time,  but 
also  the  intermediate  profit  of  the  capitalist." 

Karl  Marx  then  invokes  the  aid  of  formula  "B," 
called  by  Lassalle  "the  iron  law  of  wages,"  and 
transforms  it  into  his  theory  of  "surplus  labour." 
The  value  of  the  working  day  is  determined  by  the 
working  time  necessary  for  the  production  of  the 
means  of  subsistence  that  are  daily  required  for  the 
production  of  labour  power.  If  this  costs  six  hours, 
the  labourer  must  work  on  an  average  for  six  hours. 
During  these  six  hours  he  is  working  for  himself, 
but  by  working  for  twelve  hours  he  gives  six  hours 
of  extra  labour  or  surplus  labour  or  unpaid  labour, 
which  constitute  the  profit  of  the  capitalist,  and  this 
is  what  Karl  Marx  calls  "surplus-value."  Reduc- 
ing all  this  to  a  ratio  we  have 

Surplus  labour, 

Necessary  labour. 
This   proportion  determines    the    rate    of  surplus- 
value.     The  total  amount  of  necessary  labour  and 
of  surplus-labour  forms  the  grand  total  of  labour- 
time  or  in  other  words  a  working  day. 

n. 

Karl  Marx  places  capital  employed  in  production 
in   three  categories.       Fixed  capital,    representing 

I  "Daa  Kapital,"  vol.  i.,  chap.  i. 


FORMULA  A,   B,   AND  C  117 

establishment  or  plant;  constant  capital,  represent- 
ing rent,  raw  material,  heating  and  lighting;  and 
variable  capital,  representing  wages. 

The  variable  capital  of  a  capitalist  is  the  expression 
in  money  of  the  total  value  of  all  the  labour-powers 
that  he  employs  simultaneously.  Its  value  is,  there- 
fore, equal  to  the  average  value  of  one  labour-power, 
multiplied  by  the  number  of  labour  -  powers 
employed.! 

Why  should  capital  be  constant  when  it  is  a 
question  of  raw  material  and  variable  when  it  is 
one  of  wages?  The  price  of  the  former  is  subject 
to  more  rapid  and  more  frequent  fluctuations  than 
that  of  the  latter.  Karl  Marx  recognises  that  the 
price  of  cotton  may  rise  in  the  market  from  sixpence 
at  the  time  when  it  enters  a  factory  to  a  shilling 
during  the  process  of  manufacture,  and  that  this 
rise  in  price  may  become  incorporated  in  the  pro- 
duct, but  "this  charge  is  independent  of  the  incre- 
ment or  surplus  value  added  to  the  value  of  the 
cotton  by  the  spinning  itself." 

That  part  of  capital  which  is  represented  by  the 
means  of  production,  by  the  raw  material,  auxiliary 
material,  and  the  instruments  of  labour,  does  not,  in 
the  process  of  production,  undergo  any  quantitative 
alteration  of  value.  I  therefore  call  it  the  constant 
part  of  capital,  or,  more  shortly,  constant  capital. 

On  the  other  hand,  that  part  of  capital,  repre- 
sented by  labour-power,  does,  in  the  process  of 
production,  undergo  an  alteration  of  value.  It  both 
reproduces  the  equivalent  of  its  own  value,  and  also 
produces  an  excess,  a  surplus-value,  which  may  itself 
vary,  may  be  more  or  less  according  to  circumstances. 
This  part  of  capital  is  constantly  being  transformed 
from  a  constant  into  a  variable  magnitude.  I  there- 
fore call  it  the  variable  part  of  capital,  or,  shortly, 
variable  capital.  ^ 

1  "Das   Kapital,"  vol.   i.,  cliAp.  xi. 

2  Ibid,   vol.  i.,  chap.  viii. 


ii8  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Profit  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  the  capitalist 
is  able  to  sell  a  thing  for  which  he  has  not  paid, 
namely  surplus  labour.  Consequently  a  ratio  can 
be  established  between  variable  capital  representing 
labour  and  the  excess  of  that  value  obtained  by  the 
finished  goods. 

Let  us  examine  the  consequence  of  these  notions 
in  the  light  of  an  example^  given  by  Marx.  He 
takes  the  case  of  a  spinning  mill  containing  10,000 
mule  spindles  for  a  week  in  April,  1871,  and  applies 
this  to  a  year's  working,  without  regard  to  any 
C(uestion  of  credit. 

Fixed  Capital  (machinery)   ;^I0,500 

Circulating    Capital    2,000 

Total    capital   ;^i2,5oo 

The  ^2,500  of  circulating  capital  is  divided  into  : — 

Constant  Capital   ;^2,i82 

Variable    Capital   3^8 

The  value  of  the  week's  product  is : — 

Fixed    Capital     (wear    and    tear    of 

machinery)    £20 

Constant    circulating     capital     (Rent 
£^ ;  raw  cotton  /,'342 ;  coal,  gas, 

and    oil    £\o)  35^ 

Variable    capital    (wages)  52 

Surplus  value    (unpaid    labour)  80 

Total    £^\o 

The  capital  advanced  weekly  is : — 

Constant    circulating   capital    ^358 

Variable  capital    (wages)   52 

Total    ;^4io 


1  "Das  Kapital,"  vol.  i.,  chap,  ix.— vol.  iii.,  chap  iv. 


FORMUL.-E   A,   B,   AND  C  119 

Proportion  per  cent. : — 

Constant  capital    87.3 

Variable  capital     12.6 

Calculating  these  elements  upon  the  total  circula- 
ting capital  of  ;^"'2,5oo,  we  have  ;^2,i82  constant 
capital  and  ^£'318  variable  capital.  The  total 
amount  expended  annually  in  wages  is  52  x  ^52  = 
;^2,704,  so  that  the  variable  capital  of  ^{,'318  has 
turned  itself  over  almost  exactly  8J  times  in  the 
year.  The  profit  for  the  whole  year  is  80  x  52  = 
^"4,160,  which,  in  relation  to  the  total  capital  of 
;£,""i2,5oo,  yields  33.28  per  cent.  This  is  the  rate  of 
profit.  Profit  is  arrived  at  by  comparing  the  sur- 
plus-value of  labour  or  of  variable  capital  with  the 
total  capital,  but  this  is  not  the  profit  which  is 
apparent.  The  surplus- value  of  the  variable  capital 
is  only  to  be  compared  with  the  variable  capital,  that 
is  with  the  amounts  paid  to  the  workmen.  We  now 
have  ^80  of  surplus-value,  divided  by  £<f2  = 
153  ri  per  cent.  But  inasmuch  as  the  variable 
capital  (;^'3i8)  is  turned  over  8J  times  in  the  year 
we  have : — 

153  tI  X  SJ  =  1,307  A  per  cent. 
This  figure  of  surplus-value  is  the  figure  of  surplus- 
labour,  the  rate  of  remuneration  of  this  vampire, 
capital.  When  the  employer  pays  ;^ioo  in  wages, 
he  makes  a  profit  of  ^1,307,  when  he  pays  £1, 
his  profit  is  £iZ' 

Karl  Marx  and  his  followers  have  every  advan- 
tage in  denouncing  such  an  exploitation  of  labour 
by  capital ;  a  declamatory  socialist  does  not  analyse 
the  method  by  which  this  proportion  was  arrived  at. 
He  challenges  mathematicians  to  demonstrate  that 
Marx's  authentic  calculations  are  incorrect,  and 
because  no  one  takes  up  the  challenge,  he  concludes 
from  their  silence,  that  Marx  has  proved,  not  in 
accordance  with  an  hypothesis  in  the  air,  but  by  the 
example   of    an    English    spinning    mill,    that    an 


120  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

employer  made  a  profit  of  more  than  j^it,  for  each 
pound  spent  in  wages,  during  a  week  in  1871  ; 
that  those  X'13  are  derived  from  the  ^1  spent  on 
labour;  that  they  represent  the  surplus-value  of 
human  labour  which  is  absorbed  by  capital,  and 
that  they  stand  for  labour  which  has  not  been 
remunerated.     jAIarx   continues  : — 

The  total  capital  is  divided  into  £12,182  of  con- 
stant   and    £318    of    variable    capital,    a    total    of 
£12,500,  or  97i  per  cent,   of  constant  and  2A  per 
cent,   of  variable  capital.     Only  a  fortieth  part  of 
the  total  capital  is  employed  in  paying  wages,  but  it 
serves  this  purpose  more  than  eight  times  a  year. 
The  whole  surplus-value,  therefore,  according  to 
Marx's  theory,   is  derived  from  these  2J  per  cent. 
And  he  concludes  by  saying  that: — 

Capital  is  dead  labour,  that,  vampire-like,  only 
lives  by  sucking  living  labour,  and  lives  the  more 
the  more  labour  it  sucks,  i 

III. 

Instead  of  denouncing  the  rapacity  of  the  vam- 
pires who  grow  fat  on  labour  for  which  they  do 
not  pay,  Karl  Marx  ought  to  have  made  fun  of 
their  absurd  disinterestedness.  According  to  the 
above  computation,  the  portion  of  capital  set  apart 
for  wages  is  only  2J  per  cent,  of  the  total  capital ; 
if  then  the  profit  be  derived  entirely  from  this 
fraction,  why  do  employers  continually  seek  to  keep 
it  down,  instead  of  increasing  it?  Why  improve 
their  plant  instead  of  increasing  the  number  of  their 
wage-earners?  If  unpaid  human  labour  be  the  sole 
element  of  profit,  why  substitute  mechanical  labour 
for  it?  How  can  they  have  failed  to  realise  their 
mistake,  when  Karl  Marx  has  pointed  out  to  them 
the  means  of  obtaining  unlimited  profits  by  making 
unlimited  additions  to  their  staff  of  labour? 

Logically,  in  order  to  make  a  fortune  the  capi- 
talist has  only  to  take  the  greatest  possible  number 

I  "Das  Kapital,"  vol.   i.,  chap.   x. 


FORMULA  A,   B,   AND  C  121 

of  workmen  and  to  make  them  work,  not  as  usefully 
as  possible,  but  for  the  greatest  possible  number  of 
hours.  An  employer  should  never  buy  a  machine, 
and  should  destroy  all  those  that  he  possesses.  If 
navvies  had  neither  picks,  spades  nor  wheelbarrows, 
the  number  of  them  necessary  for  a  particular  job 
would  have  to  be  largely  increased,  and  by  virtue 
of  the  law  of  surplus-value  they  W'Ould  earn  far 
larger  profits  for  the  contractor  if  they  were  to 
scrape  the  ground  up  with  their  nails  and  carry  it 
in  their  hands. 

Karl  Marx  found  the  followine  answer.  There 
are  three  methods  by  which  the  capitalist  can  in- 
crease surplus-labour  :  by  reducing  wages,  that  is 
to  say  the  hours  of  necessary  labour,  a  reduction 
which  is  limited  by  the  means  of  subsistence,  or  by 
increasing  the  hours  of  labour,  but  in  this  he  is 
encountered  by  obstacles  of  a  physiological,  moral, 
and  legal  nature.  There  remains,  therefore,  but 
one  method,  that  of  perfecting  the  means  of  produc- 
tion. 

The  capitalist  who  applies  the  improved  method  of 
production,  appropriates  to  surplus-labour  a  greater 
portion  of  the  working-day  than  the  other  capitalists 
in  the  same  trade     .... 

There  is  immanent  in  capital  an  inclination  and 
constant  tendency  to  heighten  the  productiveness  of 
labour,  in  order  to  cheapen  commodities,  and  by  such 
cheapening  to  cheapen  the  labourer  himself  .1 

This  is  how  Karl  Marx  explains  the  capitalist's 
passion  for  machinery.  But  this  explanation  is 
insufficient  for  the  following  reason.  If  machinery 
increases  the  labour  of  the  individual,  it  diminishes 
the  number  of  individuals  necessary  for  a  like 
.'I mount  of  production  ;  it  therefore  destroys  that 
human  surplus-labour  which  is  the  sole  source  of 
surplus-value,  and  which  alone  produces  a  profit 
for  capital ;  the  capitalist,  therefore,  by  substituting 

1  "Das  Kapital,"  vol.  i.,  chap.  xii. 


122  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

machinery  for  manual  labour,  condemns  himself  to 
famine  and  commits  himself  to  suicide,  and  all  pro- 
gress in  industrial  production  is  actually  the 
destruction  of  surplus-value. 

A  capitalist  owns  a  machine  of  ten  horse-power, 
worked  by  two  mechanics,  each  of  whom  is  paid 
6  francs  a  day.     The  result  is  as  follows : — 

6  hours'  surplus-labour  surplus-value  3  francs 

6  hours'  necessary  labour      variable  capital  3  francs 

Multiplying  this  by  2,  you  find  that  the  capitalist 
vampire  has  appropriated  surplus-value  to  the  value 
of  6  francs.  If,  however,  he  had  employed  the  210 
men  who  are  the  equivalent  of  10  horse-power,  he 
would  even,  if  the  surplus-value  was  reduced  from 
3  francs  to  1.50,  to  0.50,  or  to  0.25,  have  210  francs, 
105  francs,  or  52  francs  respectively,  instead  of  the 
6  francs  obtained  from  the  two  mechanics. 

These  vampires  are  madmen  :  they  destroy  with 
their  own  hands  the  surplus-value  which  is  their 
only  profit. 

IV. 

Karl  Marx'  fallacies  rest  upon  this  proposition 
that  that  which  is  greater  than  a  particular  magni- 
tude cannot  constitute  a  portion  of  such  magnitude. 
Profit  cannot  therefore  form  a  fraction  of  the 
capitalist's  outlay.  From  this  he  draws  the  con- 
clusion that  profit  is  merely  the  result  of  unpaid 
human  labour,  and  in  fact  falls  into  the  old  error  of 
all  protectionists,  he  has  eyes  only  for  production. 
Now  production  is  valueless  without  consumption. 
The  profit  of  a  business  is  derived  from  its  custo- 
7ners.  The  demand  for  a  commodity  or  for  servi- 
ces, the  net  cost  at  which  a  commodity  is  produced, 
the  ease  with  which  it  is  placed  at  the  service  of  a 
purchaser,  such  are  the  constituent  elements  of 
profit.  Capital  is  one  of  the  coefficients  of  net  cost. 
Karl  Marx  asserts  that  in  the  eyes  of  the  capitalist 
the  price  of  the  commodity    is    exclusively  deter- 


FORMULA  A,   B,   AND  C  123 

mined  by  the  labour  for  wliich  he  pays.  The 
capitalist  knows  perfectly  well  that  return  on  capital 
is  one  of  the  elements  in  the  net  cost  of  a  commodity 
and  in  the  example  cited  by  him  this  return  is  an 
item  which  he  takes  into  consideration.  He  w'axes 
indignant  because  the  owner  of  the  capital  obtains 
some  return  on  it,  but  if  the  capitalist  derived  no 
profit  from  its  employment,  he  would  refrain  from 
employing  it.  But.  says  Karl  Marx,  profit  cannot 
form  a  fraction  of  the  capitalist's.  If  he  had  taken 
the  trouble  to  observe  actual  facts,  he  w^ould  have 
arrived  at  the  following  conclusions. 

A  manufacturer  purchases  a  spinning  mill, 
worth  a  particular  sum  of  money.  It  is  obvious 
that,  if  he  w-ere  to  empty  it  of  its  contents  or  to  leave 
it  standing  idle,  he  would  reap  no  profit  from  it. 
Of  course,  standing  by  itself  this  mill  would  confirm 
the  truism  that  "  that  which  is  greater  than  a  par- 
ticular magnitude  cannot  constitute  a  portion  of 
such  magnitude."  But  the  manufacturer  supplies 
this  mill  with  cotton  of  which  a  quantity  is  spun, 
representing  a  particular  sum  of  money,  and  it  is 
for  the  facilities  which  he  affords  for  converting  raw 
cotton  into  thread  that  the  capitalist  is  able  to  obtain 
a  sum  sufficient  to  pay  off  the  cost  of  the  mill ;  when 
this  cost  has  been  paid,  the  profit  obtained  by  the 
manufacturer  out  of  the  work  produced  by  this  mill 
is  increased  by  the  paying  off  and  recovery  of  the 
purchase  price.  Here  we  have  an  element  of  profit. 
As  between  two  undertakings,  the  one  which  suc- 
ceeds the  more  rapidlv  in  paying  off  the  purchase 
price  of  its  mills  will  obtain  the  greater  profit,  and 
its  profit  will  be  greater  during  the  time  subsequent 
to  the  paying  off  than  it  w-as  during  the  time  which 
preceded  it.  Fixed  capital  has  drawn  no  profit  from 
itself.  A  mill  does  not  produce  a  mill  and  a  quarter 
or  a  mill  and  a  half.  But  the  use.  of  the  mill  pro- 
duces utility,  and  utility  produced  in  the  shape  of 
the  manufactured  product  enables  the  manufacturer 


124  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

to  pay  off  its  prime  cost  and  to  renew  his  plant.  To 
say  that  the  mill  does  not  contribute  to  the  profit 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  it  does  not  contribute 
to  production. 

V. 

Karl  Marx'  fallacies  leave  out  of  account  the 
existence  of  raw  material.  Undoubtedly  the  truism 
to  which  he  appeals,  that  that  which  is  greater  than 
a  particular  magnitude  cannot  constitute  a  portion 
of  such  magnitude,  is  applicable  to  all  raw  material, 
which  is  incapable  by  itself  of  producing  any  profit. 
If  it  is  not  used  it  even  runs  the  danger  of  deteriora- 
ting, and  the  capital  employed  in  acquiring  it 
would  lose  its  utility. 

But  raw  material,  when  brought  into  contact  with 
other  raw  material  and  worked  up  by  means  of 
plant,  is  transformed  into  a  product,  and  what  is 
the  value  which  such  product  acquires?  Surely 
that  which  is  given  to  it  by  the  consumer  who  re- 
quires it  and  whom  Karl  Marx  suppresses  in  order 
to  establish  his  fallacious  argument. 

And  now  what  is  the  part  allotted  to  human 
labour  ?  The  capitalist  takes  charge  of  it  and  pro- 
vides it  with  the  raw  material  and  the  plant  neces- 
sary to  bring  it  into  play,  and  receives  from  it  either 
services  or  products  for  which  he  pays,  and  this 
payment  we  call  wages.  Plant,  raw  materials  and 
wages  result  in  the  production  of  a  commodity,  and 
it  is  the  difference  between  the  net  cost  and  the  price 
at  which  this  commodity  is  sold  which  constitutes 
the  profit. 

VI. 

Karl  Marx  pronounces  the  doom  of  his  own 
system  in  the  following  passage^ : — 

Apart  from  modifications  introduced  by  the  system 
of  credit,  by  the  chicaneries  in  which  capitalists  in- 
dulge   with    regard    to    one    another,    and    by    the 

1  Das  Kapital,"  vol.  iii.,  chap.  vii.  (Appendix). 


FORMULA  A,   B,   AND  C  125 

advantages  derived  by  them  by  the  selection  of  the 
most  favourable  markets,  while  the  degree  in  which 
labour  is  exploited  by  them  may  be  the  same,  the 
rate  of  profit  may  be  very  different  according  as  (a) 
their  raw  material  is  purchased  more  or  less  cheaply, 
or  with  more  or  less  skill  and  judgment ;  (b)  their 
plant  is  more  or  less  productive,  effective,  and  costly ; 
(c)  the  general  organisation  of  the  various  stages  in 
the  process  of  production  is  more  or  less  complete ; 
and  (d)  the  waste  of  raw  material  is  avoided ;  and  (e) 
the  management  and  superintendence  are  more  or 
less  simple  and  effective.  In  short,  given  the 
surplus-value  for  a  particular  amount  of  variable 
capital,  it  depends  to  a  great  extent  upon  the 
individual  competence  either  of  the  capitalist  himself 
or  of  his  overseers  and  clerks,  whether  this  surplus- 
value  is  to  be  expressed  in  a  greater  or  a  smaller 
rate  of  profit,  and  consequently  whether  his  actual 
profit  will  be  greater  or  less.  The  same  surplus- 
value  of  £1,000,  the  produce  of  £1,000  spent  in 
wages,  may  have  required  a  consta*nt  c^apital  /o£ 
£9,000  in  undertaking  A  and  of  £11,000  in  under- 
taking B.  In  the  case  of  A  the  profit  is  tttWo  10 
per  cent.  In  the  case  of  B  it  is  tVVVV  H  per  cent. 
Such  a  difference  in  the  representative  value  of 
the  same  quantity  of  surplus- value  may  be  entirely 
due  to  differences  in  the  capacity  of  those  who  direct 
the  two  undertakings. 

Engels  qualifies  the  illustration  in  which  the  rate 
of  profit  is  given  as  1,307  q-ii,  per  cent.i  with  the 
ob.servation  that  this  rate  of  profit  is  abnormal  and 
is  only  to  be  explained  by  a  temporal  and  excep- 
tional combination  of  circumstances  (exceptionally 
low  prices  of  raw  and  exceptionally  high  prices  of 
manufactured  cotton)  which  undoubtedly  cannot 
have  obtained  throughout  a  whole  year.  A  few 
lines  lower  down,  he  confuses  the  expressions 
"profit"  and  "surplus-value,"  and  remarks  that 
such  a  rate  of  profit  is  not  uncommon  in  periods  of 

1  Supra,    p.    119.     "Das    Kapital,"   vol.    iii.,  chap,   iv. 


126  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

great  prosperity,  such  as  have  not,  however,  been 
experienced  for  a  considerable  time. 

These  two  qualifications,  it  would  seem,  upset  the 
whole  calculation.  If  the  prices  of  raw  cotton  as  a 
raw  material,  and  of  manufactured  cotton  as  a  pro- 
duct play  a  part  in  the  increase  or  decrease  of  profits, 
it  follows  that  profit  is  not  simply  the  product  of 
surplus-labour,  and  the  rate  of  1,307  per  cent,  dis- 
appears with  the  appearance  of  elements  in  the  value 
of  the  product  other  than  the  element  of  surplus- 
labour. 

Marx  recognises  over  and  over  again  that  the 
difference  in  the  profits  of  various  industries  depend 
upon  the  rapidity  with  which  the  capital  employed 
in  them  is  turned  over.  Accordmgly  the  profit 
of  an  undertaking  does  not  depend  exclusively  upon 
unpaid  labour.  It  is,  therefore,  not  enough  for  a 
capitalist  to  bring  a  large  number  of  workmen 
together,  to  pay  them  small  wages,  and  to  impose 
severe  and  protracted  labour  upon  them  in  order  to 
obtain  surplus-value  in  proportion  to  the  number 
employed  at  a  minimum  rate  of  wages  and  a 
maximum  of  industry  and  duration  of  labour. 
Marx  himself  recognises  this  by  saying  that  a 
difference  in  the  same  quantit}'  of  surplus-value 
may  be  entirelv  due  to  differences  in  the  capacity 
of  those  who  direct  different  undertakings. 

Hence  follows  the  involuntary  conclusion  to  his 
theory  to  which  he  is  forced  and  which  he  admits 
in  his  own  words:  "The  profits  of  an  undertaking- 
are  independent  of  the  quantity  of  capital  employed 
in  it  and  are  not  in  proportion  to  the  quantity  of 
unpaid  labour." 

Profit  IS.  derived  from  the  management  of  the 
undertaking. 


CHAPTER    VII 

The  Discoveries  or  Karl  Marx  and  the  Facts 

i.  The  definition  of  value — Werner  Sombart — Engels' 
admission — Elements  of  value — Definition  of  value. 

ii.     Surplus-labour  and  facts. 

iii.  The  rise  and  fall  of  wages— Karl  Mai-x  versus  free 
exchange — The  Gennan  Socialists  versus  Karl  Marx 
— The  rise  of  wages  and  the  markets. 

I. 

Karl  Marx'  system  is  so  inconsistent  that  M. 
Werner  Sombart,  who  has  tried  to  explain  it, 
declares  that  "  the  law  of  value  is  not  an  empirical 
fact,  but  a  mental  fact."  It  is  a  "stimulus  to  our 
minds,"  and  consequently  far  removed  from  all 
reality.  M.  Werner  Sombart  .says  that  he  has  tried 
to  reconcile  the  obviously  contradictory  parts  of 
Marx'  theory  of  value,  and  adds,  "at  this  time 
Engels  can  still  certify  that  I  was  very  nearly  in  the 
right,  but  that  he  is  unable  to  subscribe  without 
.some  qualification  to  everything  that  I  have  im- 
ported into  Marx'  doctrines.  Other  critics  were  of 
opinion  that  this  was  not  Marx'  theory  of  value  at 
all."  And  M.  Werner  Sombart  adds  modestly, 
"perhaps  they  are  right."  Nevertheless,  Engels 
recognises  that  "even  if  Marx'  law  of  value  cannot 
be  considered  incorrect,  it  was  too  vague  and  was 
capable  of  being  set  out  with  greater  precision,"  but 
he  has  not  himself  undertaken  the  task  of  doing  so. 

If  the  foundation  of  scientific  socialism,  with 
which  the  disciples  of  Marx  claim  to  revolutionise 
the  world,  is  merely  a  "subjective  conception," 
deprived  of  all  reality,  they  la}'-  themselves  open  to 
the  same  criticism.s  which  thev  level  at  the  French 
Utopians  and  socialists  of  1848. 

It  is  untrue  that  labour  is  the  measure  of  value; 
value  is  measured  by  exchange  and  is  based  upon 
two  objective  elements,  the  net  cost  of  the  com- 
modity,    of    which    labour    constitutes    merely    a 


128  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

variable  element,  and  the  purchasing  power  of  him 
who  desires  to  possess  it,  and  upon  one  subjective 
element,  the  demand  for  such  commodity.  The 
market  rate  is  tixed,  not  by  the  net  cost,  but  by  the 
purchase  price. 

Value  is  the  ratio  between  the  utility  possessed 
by  an  individual  or  group  of  individuals  and  the 
demand  as  well  as  the  purchasing  power  of  one  or 
of  several  other  individuals.  Price  is  the  expression 
in  money  of  this  ratio.  The  vendor  in  offering  a 
commodity  for  sale  looks  upon  labour  as  an  element 
representing  20,  30,  40,  or  60  per  cent,  of  the  net 
cost,  but  he  adds  to  this  the  cost  of  raw  materials, 
interest,  and  the  redemption  of  his  capital,  all  of 
them  objective  elements  which  are  no  less  indis- 
pensable than  the  element  of  labour.  He  fixes  his 
price  according  to  the  strength  of  the  demand  for 
which  he  has  to  provide,  and  to  the  purchasing 
power  exhibited  by  those  who  furnish  that  demand. 
If  the  price  he  asks  be  greater  than  this  purchasing 
power,  the  contemplated  purchasers  abstain  from 
buying,  and  if  the  vendor  be  obliged  to  sell,  he  first 
makes  a  reduction  in  that  portion  of  the  profit  which 
he  had  proposed  to  reserve  for  himself,  and  subse- 
quently draws  upon  his  total  net  cost,  in  which  case 
he  sells  at  a  loss.  But  this  loss  falls  upon  the  other 
elements  in  the  net  cost  of  production  as  well  as 
upon  the  element  of  labour,  indeed  labour  is  only 
affected  in  the  last  resort. 

IL 

There  remains  Marx'  other  great  discovery,  that 
of  "surplus-value"  or  "surplus-labour,"  which 
Engels  calls  "the  key  of  capitalist  production."  It 
is  not  less  completely  belied  by  facts  than  the 
"iron  law  of  wages."  If  all  the  profits  of  the 
employer  were  derived  from  surplus-labour,  he 
would  have  to  devote  himself  to  two  operations:  (i) 
to  increase  the  hours  of  labour  and  lower  wages ; 
(2)  to  increase  the   number  of  his  workmen   and 


THE  DISCOVERIES  OF  KARL  MARX  129 

repress  all  improvements  in  plant.  According  to 
these  propositions,  if  the  hours  of  labour  decrease 
and  wages  rise,  the  individual  employer  must  lose 
his  profits  and  fall  into  difficulties.  Now  in  Eng- 
land, to  take  an  example,  wages  have  risen  and  the 
hours  of  labour  decreased,  and  yet  English  industry 
has  made  enormous  progress  and  earned  enormous 
profits  during  the  last  half  century.  The  same 
thing  has  happened  in  all  countries,  from  which  the 
conclusion  follows  that  Karl  Marx'  theory  of  sur- 
plus-value is  belied  by  facts. 

If  the  employer's  profit  be  derived  from  the 
surplus  labour  of  the  workmen,  the  employer  should 
increase  their  number,  and  should  decline  to  employ 
machinery,  the  effect  of  which  is  to  decrease  it. 
How  comes  it  then  that  employers  attempt,  on  the 
contrarv,  to  decrease  the  number  of  their  workmen 
and  to  supplant  them  by  machinery?  They  do  not 
seek  to  increase  their  profits  by  adding  to  the  num- 
ber of  their  employees,  but  by  perfecting  their 
plant. 

What  remains,  then,  of  Marx'  theory  of  surplus- 
value?  What  becomes  of  the  sonorous  w^ord 
"surplus-labour"  and  the  denunciations  of  the  ex- 
ploitation of  man  by  man  ?  Are  the  socialists  who 
continue  to  proclaim  it  entitled  to  protest  against 
science  when  the  most  cursory  observation  so  clearly 
gives  them  the  lie? 

HI. 

Karl  Marx  is  so  complete  an  adept  in  the  "iron 
law"  as  to  believe  that  the  rate  of  wages  is  regulated 
by  the  rate  of  the  means  of  subsistence,  and  that, 
therefore,  the  dearer  the  means  of  subsistence,  the 
smaller  the  amount  of  surplus  labour  of  which  the 
capitalist  has  to  dispose.  A  fail  in  prices  can, 
therefore,  only  provide  surplus  labour  for  the 
capitalist.^     This  was  written  by  Karl  Marx  twenty 

1  "Dae   Kapital,"  vol.   i.,   chap.  xii. 


130  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

years  after  the  abolition  of  the  Corn  Laws  in 
England,  and  this  example  alone  will  suffice  to  show 
his  contempt  for  facts.  Although  he  lived  in 
England,  he  remained  an  opponent  of  free  trade  at 
a  time  when  he  was  able  to  perceive  its  consequences 
at  first  hand.  But  when  the  agrarian  party  in  Ger- 
many proposed  to  increase  the  duties  on  meat  and 
on  cereals,  Bebel  and  other  German  followers  of 
Marx,  who  laid  claims  to  orthodoxy  and  repudiated 
Bernstein,  did  not  hesitate  to  abandon  their 
master's  doctrine  and  to  oppose  it,  thereby  showing 
that,  if  they  still  professed  a  belief  in  surplus  value, 
their  faith  had  become  sufficiently  attenuated  to 
permit  of  the  heresy  of  demanding  to  live  cheaply 
instead  of  dearly. 

As  for  the  assertion  of  formula  C,  that  "profits 
decrease  in  proportion  as  wages  increase,"  the  facts 
establish  that  an  employer  can  raise  the  rate  of 
wages  almost  indefinitely  if  he  can  increase  his 
market.  A  committee  of  the  Manchester  Chamber 
of  Commerce  has  compared  the  net  cost  of  cotton 
spun  in  India  and  in  Lancashire;  in  spite  of  the 
high  wages  and  the  short  hours  of  labour,  the 
English  "hand"  is  cheaper  than  the  Hindoo.* 


1  Chapman.    Report  on  the  Cotton  Trade,  eubmitted  to  the 
Manchester  Chamber  of  Commerce. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

The  Two  Classes 

All  the  followers  of  Marx,  including  MM.  Werner 
Sombart  and  Georges  Sorel,  consider  the  "Com- 
munist Manifesto"  of  1847,  which  was  drawn  up  by 
Marx  and  Engels,  as  "the  starting  point  of  a  new 
era."  The  "Manifesto"  begins  by  asserting  that 
"the  whole  history  of  human  society  to  the  present 
day  is  the  history  of  the  struggle  of  classes."  Karl 
Marx,  Engels,  and  their  disciple  Paul  Lafargue 
make  the  history  of  human  decadence  begin  with 
the  introduction  of  private  property.  Historians 
have,  generally  speaking,  overlooked  the  claims  of 
the  Terra  del  Fuegans,  Australian  aborigines 
and  other  people  who  still  enjoy  the  benefits  of 
communistic  anarchy.  If  Marx,  Engels,  and  Paul 
Lafargue  have  written  that  they  considered  them- 
selves as  in  a  state  of  decadence  by  comparison  with 
them,  they  have  failed  to  accommodate  their  conduct 
to  their  theories. 

Thirty-six  years  after  the  "Communist  Mani- 
festo," Engels  still  asserts  that,  "Since  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  ancient  common  ownership  of  the  soil, 
the  whole  of  history  has  been  a  struggle  of  classes." 
M.  Werner  Sombart  recognises  that  all  these 
struggles,  far  from  being  struggles  of  classes,  have 
most  frequently  been  conflicts  between  ethnic 
groups  or  between  populations  who  inhabited 
different  countries,  but  if  he  condemns  Karl  i\Iarx' 
definition  of  history  as  false  as  applied  to  the  past, 
he  adjudges  it  to  be  true  as  regards  the  future.  The 
"  Communist  Manifesto"  said  : — 

Our  age,  the  age  of  the  bourgeoisie,  has  simplified 
class  antagonisms.  Society  more  and  more  divides 
itself  into  two  great  hostile  camps,  into  two  great 
classes  in  direct  opposition  to  one  another,  the 
bourgeoisie  and  the  proletariat  (§3). 

The  mass  of  labour  to  provide  for  increases  in  pro- 
portion   to    the    development    of  machinery  and  of 


132  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

division  of  labour ;  the  number  of  hours  of  labour  is 
increased,  as  well  as  the  labour  required  to  be 
performed  in  a  particular  time  (§15). 

The  middle  classes  of  former  times,  the  small 
tradesmen,  the  merchants,  and  the  people  of  inde- 
pendent means,  the  artisans  and  peasants  are  all  in 
their  turn  being  absorbed  in  the  proletariat.  Thus 
the  proletariat  recruits  from  among  all  classes  of  the 
population  (§18). 

In  1847  Karl  Marx  used  the  present  indicative 
tense,  but  he  was  prophesying,  basing  the  future 
upon  the  abolition  of  ethnic  struggles  and  of  all 
national  and  religious  wars.  He  set  up  two  classes  in 
our  increasingly  complex  society.  I  call  this  simplex 
system  social  dichotomy.  "But,"  says  M.  Werner 
Sombart,  "  modern  society  presents  itself  to  us  as  a 
complex  concatenation  of  numerous  social  classes, 
country  squires,  middle  class,  lower  middle  class, 
proletariat,  officials,  men  of  learning,  artists,  etc." 
So  that  there  must  be  more  than  two  of  them,  in 
which  case  the  process  which  Marx  foresaw,  in 
virtue  of  which  actual  society  must  forcibly  end  in 
communism,  has  no  real  existence. 

Karl  Marx'  theory  is  summarised  in  Victor 
Modeste's  formula,  "the  rich  grow^  richer  and  the 
poor  poorer."  Karl  Marx  substitutes  "the  few" 
for  "the  rich"  and  "the  many"  for  "the  poor."  He 
sets  up  an  antithesis  between  two  groups,  the 
bourgeois  group,  consisting  of  an  increasingly  re- 
stricted number  of  individuals,  each  of  whom  is 
increasingly  inflated  by  capitalism,  and  the  prole- 
tariat group  who  are  increasingly  numerous  and 
indigent.  All  the  rich  are  not  equally  rich,  all  the 
bourgeois  are  not  capitalists  on  the  same  level. 
Consequently  they  are  not  all  inflated  to  the  same 
degree  with  what  Karl  Marx  calls  "surplus  value"  : 
they  are  not  all  magnitudes  of  the  same  order.  To 
bring  the  rest  of  mankind  into  alignment  with  the 
same  symmetry,  as  though  they  too  are  magnitudes 
of  the  same  order,  prepared  to  march  with  auto- 


THE  TWO  CLASSES  133 

matic  step  against  a  bourgeoisie  which  they  are  to 
annihilate  by  sheer  weight  of  numbers — for  victory 
belongs  to  the  big  battalions — to  imagine  two 
armies  in  perfect  alignment  and  perfect  order,  one 
of  which,  continually  adding  to  its  recruits,  crushes 
the  other  with  its  weight,  all  this  is  merely  the  con- 
ception of  a  Prussian  corporal.  But  contrary  to 
Karl  Marx'  proposition,  the  recruits  do  not  go  to 
swell  the  proletariat  army,  the  army  they  join  is  that 
of  the  capitalists.  The  proletariat  army  invented 
by  Karl  Alarx,  merely  consists  of  candidates  for 
the  other  army.  The  most  active  and  sterling 
elements  in  the  ranks  of  the  proletariat  are  intend- 
ing deserters  many  of  whom  have  already  acquired 
interests  in  the  opposing  camp.  The  skeleton  units 
in  that  camp  are  formed  entirely  out  of  deserters, 
at  whose  head  are  the  majority  of  the  actual  leaders 
of  socialism,  the  most  unassuming  of  M^hom  become 
members  of  the  lower  middle  class,  while  others 
become  rich,  substantial  bourgeois  like  Bebel. 

Karl  Marx  and  Engels  based  their  theory  upon 
two  postulates — that  the  number  of  those  interested 
in  individual  property  would  quickly  and  constantly 
diminish,  and  that  the  proletariat  of  the  greater 
industrial  system  would  be  in  a  progressively  miser- 
able condition.  It  is  necessary  to  the  realisation  of 
socialist  evolution  that  industry  and  capital  be  con- 
centrated in  a  small  number  of  hands,  and  that  the 
masses  of  wage  earners  become  more  and  more 
miserable  and  be  deprived  of  all  personal  property. 
This  is  the  process  set  forth  in  Karl  Marx'  and 
Engels'  "Communistic  Manifesto"  and  confirmed 
by  the  Erfurt  Congress  of  1891. 


BOOK    IV 

THE     DISTRIBUTION     OF 
CAPITAL 


CHAPTER  I 

Bernstein  and  the  Concentration  of  Capital 
AND  OF  Industry 

Increase  in  the  number  of  capitalists  in  England  and  in 

Prussia — Increase  of  small  industries  in  Germany. 
Economists  who  have  ventured  to  make  a  few 
timid  observations  upon  the  theory  outlined  in 
the  last  chapter,  or  upon  the  iron  law  of  wages, 
have  been  declared  to  be  the  "enemies  of  the  work- 
man." This  was  considered  an  all-sufficient 
argument,  like  Moliere's  tart  and  Moli^re's  cream. 

But  a  German  Socialist,  Bernstein,  who,  as 
executor  of  Engels'  will,  presented  some  guarantee 
of  orthodoxy,  had  the  misfortune  to  be  exiled  from 
Germany  for  complicity  in  an  illegal  agitation. 
He  spent  eleven  years  in  Switzerland  and  eleven 
in  England,  and  made  a  comparison  in  those  coun- 
tries between  economic  facts  and  the  allegations  of 
Marx  and  Engels — "a  great  misfortune,"  as  Bebel 
said  at  the  Liibeck  Congress.  It  was  indeed  a  mis- 
fortune for  those  Socialists  who  accept  Marx's 
fallacies  as  indisputable  dogmas. 

Bernstein,  observing  what  went  on  before  his 
eyes,  formed  the  conviction  that  these  fallacies 
were  erroneous,  and  had  the  audacity  to 
publish  this  discovery.^  While  Karl  Marx 
based  his  theory  of  the  social  revolution 
entirely  upon  the  concentration  of  capital  in  an 
increasingly  limited  number  of  hands,  and  the 
increase  of  a  progressively  wretched  number  of  the 
proletariat,  Bernstein  replies  by  showing  that  the 
number  of  capitalists,  so  far  from  diminishing,  is 
increasing,  and  that  the  new  capitalists  disclaim 
the  struggle  between  classes  even  while  they  remain 
supporters  of  it  in  theory.  Consequently,  the 
social  revolution  is  not  a  fatal  consequence  of  the 

1  "Die  Voraussetzungen  des  Socialismus  und  die  Anfgaben 
der  Social  Demokratie." 


138  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

historical  law  imagined  by  Karl  Marx,  and  a  policy 
based  upon  this  struggle  can  only  end  in  deception - 
The  number  of  capitalists  does  not  diminish,  as 
the  following  facts  will  show^  : 

The  very  form  of  limited  companies  is  inconsistent 
with  the  centralisation  of  fortunes,  by  permitting  a 
considerable  subdivision  of  capital.  Thus  an 
English  thread-spinning  trust,  which  has  only  been 
in  existence  for  a  year,  numbers  no  less  than  12,300 
shareholders.  The  fine  spinners'  trust  has  5,454, 
the  Manchester  ship  canal  40,000,  and  Lipton's 
74,262.  Messrs.  Spiers  and  Pond's  undertaking  in 
London,  which  is  cited  by  Socialists  as  an  instance  of 
the  concentration  of  capital,  has  a  total  capital  of 
£125,000,  and  numbers  4,650  shareholders,  of  whom 
550  hold  shares  to  an  amount  of  more  than  £480. 
The  total  number  of  holders  of  shares  in  England  is 
estimated  at  a  great  many  more  than  a  million,  and 
this  seems  to  be  no  exaggeration  in  view  of  the  fact 
that  in  the  year  1896  alone  the  number  of  limited 
companies  in  the  United  Kingdom  was  21,223,  with 
a  capital  of  £1,069,920,000.  These  figures  do  not 
include  the  shares  in  foreign  enterprises  which  are 
dealt  in  on  the  English  market.  Government  stock, 
etc. 
Therefore  the  number  of  owners  of  property  in 
England  does  not  diminish.  Is  it  otherwise  in 
Prussia  ? 

In  Prussia,  as  readers  of  Lassalle  know,  there 
were  44,407  individuals  out  of  a  population  of 
16,300,000  with  an  income  of  1,000  thalers  (;^i5o). 
In  the  year  1894-5,  out  of  a  population  of  32  mil- 
lions, there  were  321,296  in  the  enjoyment  of  an 
income  of  more  than  that  amount.  In  1897-8  their 
number  was  347,328.  While  the  population 
doubled,  the  number  of  individuals  who  enjoyed  a 
small  competency  was  multiplied  by  six.  The 
proportion  of  persons  in  the  easiest  circumstances, 
as  compared  with  the  total  population,   increased 

1  Thi«  summary  is  based  upon  a  pamphlet  by  M.  Abel,  the 
editor  of  La  Fiandre  Liberate. 


CAPITAL  AND  INDUSTRY  139 

in  the  proportion  of  more  than  two  to  one.  And 
if  we  take  a  later  period  we  find  that  in  the  fourteen 
years  from  1876  to  1890,  side  by  side  with  a  total 
increase  of  20.56  per  cent,  of  persons  liable  to 
taxation,  incomes  between  £100  and  ;^i,ooo  (upper 
and  lower  middle  class)  increased  by  3.52  per  cent. 
(582,024  as  against  42,534).  The  class  of  owners 
properly  so-called  (incomes  of  2,000  thalers  and  up- 
wards) increased  during  the  same  period  by  58.47 
per  cent.  (109,095  as  against  66,319).  Five-sixths 
of  this  increase  falls  upon  the  moderate  incomes 
of  from  500  to  6,500  thalers. 

The  "  Einkommensteuer,"  a  graduated  income, 
was  introduced  in  1891  :  persons  whose  incomes 
fall  short  of  900  marks  (^45)  are  exempt.  It  is 
fair  to  assume  that  a  number  of  persons  conceal 
part  of  their  income  in  order  to  remain  within  this 
limit.  Nevertheless  the  number  of  taxable  in- 
comes of  more  than  900  marks  was  2,436,000  in 
1892,  and  the  total  income  was  upwards  of  5,961 
millions  of  marks.  In  1907  the  number  was 
5,390,000,  an  increase  of  120  per  cent.,  while  the 
income  had  increased  from  5,704  millions  of  marks 
to  11,747  rnillions,  an  increase  of  100  per  cent. 
This  difference  of  14  per  cent,  between  the  increase 
of  total  income  and  the  increase  of  taxable  incomes 
demonstrates  that  wealth  has  been  distributed  and 
not  concentrated.  This  improvement  continues : 
in  1908,  the  number  of  taxable  incomes  was 
5,880,000. 

Taking  the  number  of  individuals,  after  deduct- 
ing corporate  bodies,  we  find  :  — 

Net  income       Average  net 
Number  Proportion  to      in  millions  of     income  per 

population  marks       taxable  income 

1892  ...  2,496,000        8.7  p.c.        5-704       2.342 

1907  ...  5,384,500       14.4  p.c.       11.748       2.182 

1908  ...  5,876,700       154  P-c-       12.795       2.677 

So  that  economic  progress,  far  from  producing  an 
increasingly     numerous     and     increasingly     poor 


I40  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

mass,  adds  to  the  number  of  those  who  possess  a 
more  or  less  considerable  income.  The  molecule 
which  is  to-day  put  at  the  bottom  rises  to-morrow 
to  the  surface.  Civilisation  becomes  more  and 
more  fluid.  The  boy  who  sells  newspapers  on  an 
American  railway  car  is  the  potential  Carnegie  or 
Edison  of  to-morrow.  In  France  the  bricklayer 
of  Limoges  is  not  only  a  bourgeois  candidate,  he 
is  a  successful  bourgeois  who,  with  a  salary  in 
Paris,  is  a  capitalist  in  his  own  country. 

Do  the  great  industries  destroy  the  small  ? 
Here  is  what  has  happened  in  Prussia,  according  to 
Bernstein,  where  the  Government  absolutely 
favours  the  former  :  — 

In  1875  the  greater  industries  occupied  the  same 
relative  position,  as  regards  production,  as  in  Eng- 
land in  189L  In  Prussia  38  per  cent,  of  the  work- 
men were  engaged  in  them  in  1875,  so  that  these 
industries  have  developed  in  a  sufficiently  large 
proportion.  None  the  less,  the  great  majority  of 
persons  employed  in  industries  in  Germany  was  still 
employed  in  the  moderate-sized  and  minor  industries. 
Of  10|  millions  of  workmen  employed  in  industries 
in  1875,  rather  more  than  three  millions  were 
employed  in  the  larger  industries,  2^  millions  in  the 
moderate-sized  industries  (employing  from  5  to  50 
workmen),  and  4|  millions  in  the  minor  industries. 
There  were  only  1^  millions  carrying  on  their  own 
small  haud-trades. 

From  1882  to  1895  the  small  undertakings  (1  to  5 
workmen)  in  Germany  increased  from  2,457,950  to 
3,056,318,  or  24.3  per  cent. ;  the  minor  undertakings 
of  moderate  size  (6  to  10  workmen)  from  500,097  to 
833,409,  or  66  per  cent.  ;  the  greater  undertakings 
(11  to  52  workmen)  from  891,623  to  1,620,848,  or 
81.8  per  cent.  During  this  period  the  population 
only  increased  by  13.5  per  cent.  "If,"  says  Herr 
Bernstein,  "during  the  period  in  question  the  greater 
industries  have  increased  in  a  larger  proportion — 
88.7  per  cent. — this  increase  has  not  coincided  with 
an  absorption  of  the  minor  industries,  except  in  a 
few  isolated  cases." 


CAPITAL  AND   INDUSTRY  141 

Percentages  should  be  treated  with  caution,  for 
it  is  important  to  know  to  what  figures  they  are  to 
be  appHed.  If  i  becomes  2,  the  increase  is  100 
per  cent.  If  6  becomes  9,  the  increase  is  only  50 
per  cent.,  but  the  actual  figure  is  much  larger. 

In  Prussia,  the  number  of  persons  employed  in 
traffic  and  business  (exclusive  of  those  employed  by 
the  railways  and  the  post  office)  increased  from  1885 
to  1895,  in  the  case  of  undertakings  employing  more 
than  two  persons,  from  411,509  to  467,636,  an  in- 
crease of  13.6  per  cent. ;  in  undertakings  employing 
from  3  to  5  persons  the  increase  was  from  176,867  to 
342,112,  or  93.4  per  cent.;  and  in  undertakings 
employing  from  6  to  50  persons  the  increase  was 
from  157,328  to  303,078,  or  an  increase  of  142.2 
per  cent.  The  minor  undertakings  indicate  the 
crreatest  increase,  although  the  increase  is  the  most 
considerable,  in  proportion,  in  the  greater  ones. 
But  the  latter  do  not  represent  more  than  5  per  cent, 
of  the  whole. 

Herr  Bernstein's  conclusion,  which  we  believe  to 
be  correct  in  all  respects,  is  that  "the  larger  indus- 
tries do  not  continually  absorb  the  minor  and 
moderate-sized  undertakings,  but  gather  strength  and 
increase  side  by  side  with  them." 

The  cries  of  rage  with  which  Herr  Bernstein's 
conclusions  were  received  by  Socialists  are  easily 
explained.  From  the  moment  when  the  law  of 
the  concentration  of  capital  fails  to  be  verified  by 
the  facts,  Socialism  loses  its  hopes. 

But  Van  der  Velde  and  Georges  Sorel  are 
obliged  to  state  that  no  such  concentration  has 
come  to  pass.  The  greater  industries  have  con- 
stantly shortened  the  hours  of  labour  and  increased 
the  rates  of  wages,  and  wages  are  highest  where 
the  greater  industries  have  attained  the  highest 
degree  of  development.  The  foremen  in  the  rolling 
mills  at  Pittsburg  draw  15  dollars  a  day.  The 
bourgeois,  or  middle  class,  far  from  decreasing, 
constantly  increases  in  numbers. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Poor  Become  Poorer 

i.  Actual  poor  and  real  poor — Victor  Modeste's 
formula— Number  of  poor — Charitable  organisations 
always  find  them. — Decreasing  number  in  Paris  from 
the  Consulate  to  1903. — Number  of  destitute  assisted 
fi-om  1857  to  1903. — Compulsory  assistance. — Gratui- 
tous medical  assistance  and  its  abuse. — Total  5^  to  6 
per  cent,  of  population. 

ii.  England  and  Wales — Decrease  in  number  of  poor 
— The  bourgeoisie  and  its  slave. 

I 

By  virtue  of  the  process  foreseen  by  Karl  Marx, 
"Society  finds  itself  suddenly  thrown  back  into  a 
momentary  state  of  barbarism  and  into  pauper- 
ism." Has  barbarism  increased  in  the  last  sixty 
years?  I  very  much  doubt  it.  Is  pauperism 
greater  now  than  it  was  then  ?     Let  us  see. 

Poor  Law^  statistics  do  not  greatly  signify,  the 
actual  poor  and  the  real  poor  are  two  distinct 
beings,  the  latter  being  produced  by  the  law,  by 
custom  and  by  tradition. 

The  formula  in  which  Karl  Marx'  theory  of  the 
two  classes  is  condensed,  that  "the  rich  become 
richer,  the  poor  poorer,"  is  due  to  that  man  of  mor- 
bid character,  Victor  Modeste.  In  ransacking  the 
registers  of  the  department  of  public  relief  (Assist- 
ance publique)  he  observed  that  the  same  families 
appeared  in  them,  generation  after  generation, 
and  concluded  therefrom  that  "the  poor  became 
poorer  and  the  rich  richer,"  This  is  not  the  con- 
clusion to  be  drawn  from  the  fact,  the  proper  one 
is  quite  different.  This  fact  proves  that  people 
under  the  protection  of  the  department,  accustomed 
to  live  by  its  aid  with  a  minimum  of  exertion, 
make  no  attempt  to  emancipate  either  themselves 
or  their  descendants  from  it.  Looking  upon  them- 
selves as  they  do  as  its  pensioners  they  consider 


THE  POOR  BECOME  POORER       143 

that  it  has  duties  in  regard  to  them  in  exchange 
for  their  submissiveness  and  their  importunate 
mendicancy.  The  number  of  persons  in  receipt 
of  rehef  in  France  is  bound  to  increase,  for  tiie 
simple  reason  that  the  number  of  charitable 
institutions  has  increased.  Sir  Athelstane 
Baines  and  those  who  have  any  practical  acquaint- 
ance with  the  poor  law  would  agree  with  Sir 
William  Chance  that,  generally  speaking,  a  Union 
can  have  as  many  paupers  as  it  chooses  to  pay 
for.i 

According  to  M.  E.  Chevallier  in  the  year  X, 
under  the  Consulate,  20  per  cent,  of  the  inhabi- 
tants of  Paris  were  indigent,  12  in  1818,  and  5  or 
6  about  1880.  In  1903  the  department  only 
returned  2  per  cent,  because  it  only  includes  in  this 
category  those  persons  who  w-ere  in  receipt  of 
annual  relief  and  not  those  who  had  received  tem- 
porary assistance.  JM.  de  Foville  says  that  it  is 
impossible  by  any  method  of  calculation  to  find  5 
per  cent,  of  actual  destitutes  in  Paris.  And  so 
the  proportion  during  the  Consulate  no  longer 
holds  good. 

M.  de  Villeneuve-Bargemont,  in  1829,  calculated 
that  there  were  1,329,000  indigent  poor  in  France, 
say  4  per  cent,  of  the  population.  Beginning  in 
1837,  the  figures  of  the  public  charitable  institu- 
tions yield  the  following  results:  — 

Number  of  existing 
public  charitable  Number  of 

Tear.  institutions.  indigents  relieved. 

1837  6,715  806,000 

i860  11,351  1,159,000 

1883  14,485  1,405,000 

1903  16,040  1,384,000 

1904  16,040  1,381,400 

1905  16,040  1,348,400 

Despite  the  increase  in  the  number  of  charitable 
institutions    and    of    a    population  which    has    in- 

1  Royal  Statistical  Society,  June  20th,   1906. 


144  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

creased  from  twenty-seven  and  a  half  millions  to 
thirty-nine  millions,  the  figures  of  1829  and  of  1905 
are  very  nearly  the  same. 

The  law  of  July  14th,  1905,  lays  upon  the 
communes  the  obligation  fully  and  completely  to 
"supply  compulsory  relief  to  the  old,  the  infirm, 
and  to  incurables  without  means."  The  number 
of  persons  in  receipt  of  relief  will  undoubtedly 
increase,  but  the  number  of  actual  poor  will  be  no 
greater. 

The  law  of  July  15th,  1893,  organised  gratuitous 
medical  assistance,  not  only  "for  all  sick  persons 
of  French  nationality  without  means,"  but  for  all 
who  "in  case  of  illness  are  not  in  a  position  to 
obtain  medical  attendance  at  their  own  expense" 
(Circular  of  May  i8th,  1894).  Patients  of  this 
description  are  more  numerous  than  those  who 
obtain  relief  from  public  charitable  institutions. 
The  law  may  be  estimated  as  being  in  operation 
in  departments  with  a  population  of  34  millions. 
The  medical  man  who  has  no  confidence  in  the 
prospect  of  pecuniary  recognition  of  his  services, 
induces  his  patient  to  obtain  the  benefit  of 
gratuitous  medical  assistance.  By  this  means  he 
makes  sure  of  being  paid. 

Those  persons  who  are  in  receipt  of  assistance 
are  not  all  indigent.  The  number  of  beneficiaries  in 
1903  was  about  two  millions  (1,957,000)  of  whom 
860,000  obtained  substantial  treatment  in  the 
course  of  the  year.  The  proportion,  therefore, 
would  work  out  at  between  5^  and  6  per  cent,  of 
the  population  of  France ;  this  figure  is  more 
probably  above  than  below  the  true  one. 

II 

In  England  the  ancient  poor  law  of  Elizabeth's 
time  was  completely  recast  in  1834.  No  com- 
parison is  possible  between  the  earlier  and  the 
present  time,  but  it  is  estimated  that  in  1849  there 


THE  POOR  BECOME  POORER   145 

were  not  more  than  a  million  poor  in  England  and 
Wales,  say  5^^  to  6  per  cent,  of  the  population. 

According  to  the  Report  of  the  Royal  Com- 
mission on  the  Poor  Laws  (1909,  p.  20)  the  cycles 
of  pauperism  since  1871  (the  year  when  the 
complete  statistics  for  England  and  Wales  begin) 
are  as  follows  :  — 


Cycles. 
1871-2  to  1879-80  (9  years) 
1880-1  to  1887-8  (8  years) 
1888-9  to  1895-6  (8  years) 
1896-7  to  1905-6  (10  years) 

1907-8  3      ^^^^^^  y®^^^ 

In  the  two  years  1906-7 


Mean 

number 

of  persons 

relieved. 

747.936 
711.626 
694.094 
718.444 
769.160 
772.346 


Meao 

of  the 

annual  rates 

per  1000  of 

estimated 

population. 

31.2 


Decrease 
in  rate  as 
compared 
with  pre- 
ceding 
cycle. 


26.6  ...  4.6 
23.8  ...  2.8 
22.2  ...  1.6 
22.3 
22.1 

1907-8  the  numbers  have 


oscillated,  and  as  it  is  not  yet  clear  what  place  they 
will  occupy  in  the  general  movement,  they  are  given 
separately. 

According  to  a  table  presented  to  the  Inter- 
national Statistical  Institute  at  its  meeting  in 
London  (August,  1905)  bv  Mr.  C.  wS.  Loch, 
Professor  at  King's  College  and  Secretary  of  the 
Charity  Organisation  Society,  the  ratio  of  pauper- 
ism has  undergone  the  following  variations  in  the 
Metropolis :  — 


Indigent  per- 

Population 

sons  relieved  per 

Tear 

In 

IhoiisandB  of 

Ratio  of 

(End  of  Jan.) 

thousands. 

population.       pauperism. 

1861 

2,770 

II4-5 

4-13 

187I 

3,221 

162.4 

5-04 

1881 

3,771 

105.6 

2.80 

189I 

4,181 

100.6 

2.41 

I9OI 

4,511 

106.4 

2.36 

1903 

4,579 

1 14.6 

2.50 

1904 

4,614 

117.4 

2.54 

1905 

4,649 

128.2 

2.76 

After   1903 

there   is  a 

.sli 

ght   rise,   but 

this   is   in 

great    measure 

owing 

to 

the    markedly    paternal 

K 


146  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Socialism  which  is  "making  the  poor.''^  In  spite 
of  this  disturbing  psychological  element  the  pro- 
portionate number  of  the  poor  has  decreased  by 
more  than  one-half  since  1861. 

The  rich  may  become  richer,  but  the  poor  do 
not  become  poorer.  The  followers  of  Marx  have 
announced  the  ruin  of  the  bourgeoisie  in  the 
following  terms  :  — 

The  bourgeoisie  is  incapable  of  ruling  because  it  is 
no  longer  able  to  ensure  the  existence  of  its  slave, 
even  in  the  conditions  of  his  slavery,  because  it  is 
obliged  to  allow  him  to  fall  into  a  condition  in  which 
it  must  support  him  instead  of  being  supported  by 
him.  2 

The  pretended  slave  knows  better  and  better 
how  to  support  himself  by  his  labour  and  even  by 
his  thrift. 


1  See  St.  Loe  Strachey's  "Making  the  Poor." 

2  Werner  Sombart,  p.   89. 


CHAPTER     III 

Financial     Feudalism 

M.  A.  Neymarck— Sub-division  of  transferable  securities 
— Certificates  of  railway  shares— Bonds — Govern- 
ment stock — The  "  Banque  de  France  " — Loans  on 
landed  security — Saving  bank  deposits — American 
millionaires  and  feudal  lords. 

M.  A.  Neymarck  made  a  series  of  studies  in  1893, 
in  1896,  and  in  1903,  in  the  "Sub-division  of  trans- 
ferable securities,"!  bearing  upon  government 
stock,  shares  and  bonds  of  "the  "Credit  Foncier" 
(a  bank  issuing  loans  upon  the  security  of  landed 
property),  and  shares  and  bonds  of  railway  com- 
panies representing  approximately  a  capital  of 
55,000  millions  of  francs  (;^2, 200, 000, 000)  out  of 
the  85  to  90  milliards  of  francs  (^'3, 400, 000, 000  to 
;{^3, 600,000,000)  belonging  to  French  capitalists. 

In  i860,  the  average  number  of  shares  in  rail- 
way companies  registered  on  each  certilicate  was 
28.33  :  on  December  31st,  1900,  it  was  12.49.  The 
number  of  certificates  was  40,846  in  i860  and 
112,026  in  1900.  The  number  of  certificates  has 
nearly  trebled,  while  the  number  of  small  holders 
of  securities  has  more  than  doubled.  The  value  of 
these  certificates,  at  the  prices  ruling  in  1900,  was 
as  follows :  — 

Eailwayg. 

Est     12.60  shares  at  1,000  fr  each  12,600 

Lyon  13  1,500  19,500 

Midi    10.52  1,270  13,360 

Nord  13.60  1,930  26,240 

Orleans    ...  13.60  1,600  20,800 

Quest        ...  99.38  1,015  10,087 

1  Societe  de  Statistique  de  Paris  (Seances  du  19  mars,  1902, 
et  du  18  mare,  1903. ) 


148  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

That  is  to  say  a  maximum  of  26,000  francs  and 
a  minimum  of  10,000.  Out  of  100  shareholders, 
75  owned  only  from  i  to  10  shares.  Here  we  have 
the  "financial  feudalism"  referred  to  in  Socialist 
orations. 

The  bonds  of  the  railway  companies  were  dis- 
tributed as  follows:  — 

354,731  of  from  I  to  24,  say  a  capital  of  from 

Francs. 

460  to  11,040 

137,681  ,,  25—100  ,,  11,500—46,000 

18,419        ,,     loi— 199  ,,  46,460—91,540 

8,869    "   -200 — 499       ,,      92,000 — 229,540 

1,261        ,,     500  and  over,  say  a  capital  of  230,000 


520,961 

Nearly  95  per  cent,  of  the  shares  are  the  property 
of  investors  who  hold  a  maximum  number  of  100 
securities.  The  total  French  Government  stock 
is  divided  among  more  than  five  million  sub- 
scribers. The  average  is  hardly  more  than  150 
francs  in  interest,  say  a  capital  of  5,000  francs. 
More  than  80  per  cent,  belongs  to  investors  with 
an  income  of  from  two  to  fifty  francs.  The 
number  of  holders  is  more  than  two  millions. 

The  Banque  de  France  is  an  investment 
patronised  by  rich  men.  In  1870  the  number  of 
shareholders  was  16,062,  with  an  average  holding 
of  12  shares:  in  1900  it  was  27,136  with  an 
average  of  6^:  at  the  end  of  1908  it  was  31,249, 
of  whom  10,381  owned  one  share  and  17,403 
between  2  and  io« 

Of  39,000  shareholders  of  the  Credit  Foncier 
in  1900,  32,767  owned  10  shares  or  less. 


FINANCIAL   FEUDALISM  149 

The  "Revue  Socialiste"  has  stated  the  number 
of  deposits  in  the  savings  banks  in  1904  to  be 
as  follows  :  — 


Depositors' 

Number. 

Total  (francs). 

Average 

Books. 

Deposit. 

20  fr.  or  less 

3,908,800 

43,185,306 

I  I 

21  to  100 

2,191,489 

108,632,470 

49 

101 — 200 

1,009,811 

141,596,470 

140 

201 — 500 

1,405,036 

499.950,898 

320 

501 — 1000 

1,319,680 

990,295,853 

750 

looi — 1500 

945.434 

1.161,876,307 

1,228 

1500  and  over  (li 

able 

to  reduction) 

980,302 

1,507,858,170 

1.538 

1501  and  over 

(exempt  from 

reduction  by  1 

aw)        7,220 

30,070,181 

4,164 

Totals  and 
average       11,767,772      4,433,465,059        378 

It  follows  from  these  figures  that  these  11,767,772 
depositors  possess  an  average  deposit  of  378  francs, 
constituting  a  tolerably  small  property  and  that  of 
these  11,767,772  yroprietors  or  capitalists  (as  M.  Yves 
Guyot  or  M.  Paul  Leroy-Beaulieu  would  freely  call 
them)  more  than  half  (3,908,800  +  2,291,489)  have 
an  "average  capital"  varying  between  49  and  11 
francs,  while  their  income  varies  between  2  fr.  47 
and  33  centimes  ("Revue  socialiste"). 

What  do  these  figures  prove  ?  That  the  savings 
bank  does  not  represent  a  concentration  of  capital. 
It  cannot,  therefore,  be  invoked  as  an  argument  in 
favour  of  Karl  Alarx'  thesis,  but  these  small 
deposits  none  the  less  represent  a  sum  of  four 
milliards  of  francs  (^160,000,000)  and  that  is  a 
total  which  is  not  to  be  despised. 

Twenty-five  years  ago,  in  1882,  the  savings 
banks  had  :  — 


150  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 


Number  of 

Depositors' 
Books. 

Amount  du» 
to  Depositors 
on  Dec.  31st. 

1882 
1892 

4,645,893 
8,084,435 

1,802,400,000 
3,843,800,000 

1900 

11,767,772 

4,433,400,000 

1905 

1908 

12,134,000 

12,828,547 

4,654,000,000 
4,976,428,000  1 

One  knows  that  the  savings  bank  does  not  allow 
of  deposits  above  1,500  francs.  This  progress 
points  to  the  increase  of  would-be  capitalists.  So 
far  from  decreasing  they  become  more  and  more 
numerous,  in  spite  of  Karl  Marx'  law  of  concen- 
tration, which  involves  the  "pauperisation"  of  the 
great  majority.  But  Messrs.  Rockfeller,  Carnegie 
and  perhaps  two  or  three  others  are  multi- 
millionaires. Be  it  so,  but  do  they  absorb  a 
greater  proportion  of  wealth  than  the  great  feudal 
lords  and  kings  of  the  good  old  times?  Quite  the 
contrary.  Therefore  the  alleged  law  of  the 
concentration  of  capital  is  not  in  accordance  with 
the  facts. 


1  For  this  year  the  average  deposit  was  387  francs. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Real  and  Apparent  Income 

Regular  incomes  vary. — Reduction  of  income  by 
fall  in  securities. — French  Government  stock. — Rail- 
way shares. — Fall  in  landed  property. — The  increase 
of  capital  not  automatic. 

Among  the  promoters  of  various  taxes  upon 
income  who  have  put  forward  various  proposals, 
not  one  has  asked  himself  the  simple  question, 
"What  is  income,  and  how  is  it  distinguished 
from  capital  ?"  It  is  repeatedly  stated,  for  example, 
that  the  3  per  cent,  paid  upon  stock  of  the  City  of 
Paris,  the  Credit  Foncier  or  the  railway  com- 
panies represents  a  security  paying  a  fixed  rate  of 
interest.  This  is  the  established  phrase.  The 
conclusion  is  suggested  that  on  the  imposition  of 
so  much  per  cent,  upon  income  every  taxpayer 
knows  the  precise  portion  of  the  total  levy  which 
he  has  to  bear.  This  may  seem  certain,  but  it  is 
wrong,  for  French  Government  stock  does  not 
always  bear  3  per  cent.,  and  railway  bonds  and 
other  securities  paying  a  fixed  rate  of  interest  pay 
irregular  dividends. 

Instead  of  exclaiming  at  the  paradox  let  us  look 
at  the  facts.  I  bought  3  per  cent.  French  Govern- 
ment stock  at  the  end  of  December,  1897,  at 
I03fr.  10;  I  had  to  sell  at  the  end  of  December, 
1906,  at  95fr.  That  is  a  difference  of  at  least 
7fr.  85,  say  an  annual  loss  for  nine  years  of  of r.  87. 
I  must  therefore  deduct  this  87  centimes  from  my 
3  francs  of  dividend,  and  my  regular  income  was 
not  3fr.,  but  2fr.  13.  If  the  Treasury  imposes  a 
tax  of  4  per  cent,  upon  my  3  francs  I  am  paying 
ofr.  12,  which  upon  2fr.  13,  represents  an  actual 
rate  of  5.68  per  cent.  But  I  may  fare  even  worse 
than  this.  I  bought  3  per  cents,  at  99fr.  at  the 
end  of  December,  1905,  and  sold  them  at  the  end 
of  December,  1906,  at  95fr.  25,  that  is  at  a  loss  of 


152  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

3fr.  75.  I  drew  a  dividend  of  3  francs,  but  this 
was  absorbed  by  the  loss  which  I  sustained  on  my 
capital,  to  which  I  have  to  add  a  further  ofr.  75. 

Accordingly  an  income  tax  would  have  fallen 
not  only  upon  a  smaller  income  than  the  antici- 
pated regular  income,  but  upon  a  deficit  as  well  : 
I  sustain  a  loss  of  ofr.  75  and  should  have  had  to 
pay  4  per  cent,  on  3  francs,  i.e.,  ofr.  12,  which  I 
have  to  add  to  my  loss.  Because  I  have  had  the 
misfortune  to  buy  stock  bearing  3  francs  as 
interest  at  the  end  of  December,  1905,  the  State  is 
to  force  me  to  withdraw  ofr.  12  of  my  capital  in 
order  to  pay  income  tax  to  the  State,  when,  instead 
of  supplying  me  with  a  dividend,  it  has  already 
inflicted  a  loss  of  ofr.  75  upon  me  ! 

In  reviewing  other  securities  with  a  fixed  rate  of 
interest,  I  find  that  their  dividend  is  by  no  means 
the  nominal  dividend  upon  which  the  tax  is  placed. 
Those  who  want  safe  investments  are  recom- 
mended to  buy  railway  bonds,  and  quite  rightly 
on  the  ground  of  safety ;  it  offers  a  double 
guarantee,  that  of  the  Government,  and  that  of  the 
substantial  character  of  the  Company. 

A  woman,  a  widow,  a  workman,  or  a  careful 
clerk  buys  a  3  per  cent,  bond  in  the  "Chemin  de  fer 
du  Nord"  at  the  end  of  December,  1898,  at  the 
price  of  478  francs.  The  holder  wants  to  re-sell 
at  the  end  of  December,  1906,  and  can  only  recover 
456  francs.  The  stock  has  brought  in  15x8=120 
francs.  Deducting  22  francs,  it  has  brought  in 
98fr.,  i.e.  iifr.  per  annum  or  2fr.  30  per  cent. 

In  order  to  simplify  my  instance  I  have  not 
taken  actual  taxes  into  account.  The  holder  of  a 
security  payable  to  bearer  has  only  received 
i3fr.  42  instead  of  15  francs,  i.e.,  i07fr.  36  in  eight 
years,  from  which  he  must  deduct  22  francs.  He 
has  therefore  received  85fr.  26,  i.e.,  lofr.  70  per 
annum  or  2fr.  24  per  cent. 

Take  another  security  of  the  same  kind,  a  share 
in  the  issue  of  the  Credit  Foncier  of  1895  at  the 


REAL  AND  APPARENT  INCOME     153 

rate  of  2fr.  80.  At  the  end  of  December,  1897, 
the  price  was  499fr.,  at  the  end  of  December,  1906, 
it  was  only  463fr.,  i.e.  a  decUne  of  35fr.  The  gross 
dividend  is  i4fr.  In  nine  years  it  has  brought  in 
126 — 35  =  91  fr.,  i.e.  lofr.  II  per  annum,  or  2.02 
per  cent.  But  this  is  subject  to  taxation,  and  if 
we  again  deduct  the  actual  tax,  the  holder's  divi- 
dend is  reduced  to  i2fr.46.  In  nine  years  he  has 
received  ii2fr.  14 — 35  =  77fr.  14,  yielding  him  1.54 
per  cent,  per  annum.  This  is  the  dividend  ob- 
tained by  the  holder  of  a  share  in  the  issue  of  the 
Credit  Foncier  of  1895. 

At  a  number  of  election  meetings,  and  even  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  the  income  tax  is  repre- 
sented as  an  instrument  destined  to  make  railway 
shareholders  disgorge,  the  shareholders  being 
pictured  as  vampires  which — at  the  expense  of  the 
public — appropriate  enormous  dividends. 

The  holders  of  shares  in  the  Compagnie  du 
Nord  are  among  those  who  are  thus  attacked. 
But  on  examining  the  illusory  dividends  received 
by  them  from  1898  to  1906,  this  is  what  I 
find.  At  the  end  of  December,  1898,  the  stock 
of  the  Compagnie  du  Nord  stood  at  2,iiofr.,  at  the 
end  of  December,  1906,  it  had  declined  to  1,775, 
i.e.  a  fall  of  335fr.  Now  in  the  eight  years  from 
1899  to  1906,  inclusive,  the  total  dividend 
amounted  to  55ofr.,  which,  after  deducting  335fr., 
leaves  215.  The  purchaser  of  a  share  at  the  end  of 
December,  1895,  has  therefore  received  26.87fr. 
per  annum,  which  amounts  to  ifr.  27  per  cent., 
having  regard  to  the  purchase  price.  The  income 
tax  of  4  per  cent,  on  55ofr.  yields  22fr.,  but  since 
the  income  was  only  2i5fr.,  it  actually  amounts  to  10 
per  cent.  The  holder  of  stock  may  have  done  even 
worse  by  buying  stock  at  the  end  of  June,  1900, 
at  the  price  of  2,40ofr.,  if  he  were  forced  to  sell  on 
May  30th,  1907,  at  the  price  of  i,769fr.— a  loss  of 
63ifr.  Supposing  that  he  drew  the  whole  of  the 
dividends  from  1900  to  1906,  he  has  received  472fr. 


154  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

in  dividends  and  his  account  shews  a  loss  of  I59fr. 
Nevertheless  he  has  had  to  pay  4  per  cent,  upon 
this  amount  of  472fr.,  in  addition  to  the  lump  sum 
assessed  on  the  nominal  capital  of  the  securities 
and  the  annual  tax  of  ofr.20  upon  their  capital 
value  assessed  upon  their  average  price  during 
the  preceding  year,  so  that  it  is  necessary 
to  add,  in  round  numbers,  another  5ofr.  to  his 
loss.  This  investment  in  a  tirst  class  security  has 
therefore  resulted,  not  in  a  profit,  but  in  an  annual 
loss  of  28fr.  50. 

Take  the  case  of  an  investment  in  real  property. 
In  some  parts  of  Paris  this  class  of  property  has 
depreciated  20  or  30  per  cent,  in  less  than  ten  years, 
and  this  should  be  deducted  from  the  income. 
And  do  not  upkeep,  rebuilding,  and  improvements 
frequently  represent  several  years'  income  ? 

As  proprietor  of  an  agricultural  estate,  am  I  not 
continually  obliged  to  undertake  building,  repairs 
and  work  of  all  kinds  ?  If  my  income  from  the 
property  is  3,ooofr.  and  I  build  new  stables  at  a 
cost  of  6,000,  am  I  not  deprived  of  my  income  for 
two  years? 

Income  is  only  a  slice  of  capital,  cut  off  for  con- 
venience in  accounts,  but  it  cannot  be  separated 
from  it ;  profit  and  loss  can  no  more  stop  at  a  fixed 
point  at  the  end  of  a  year  than  the  physiological 
condition  of  the  human  body  can  undergo  a 
sudden  change.  In  order  to  arrive  at  a  correct 
statement  of  income,  it  is  necessary  to  take  into 
account  the  rise  and  fall  in  the  value  of  capital  as 
well  as  the  nominal  rate  of  interest.  The  examples 
that  I  have  given  prove  that  capital  does  not 
increase  automatically  by  means  of  compound 
interest,  as  Socialists  are  pleased  to  assert  who, 
instead  of  looking  at  the  facts,  only  seek  for  argu- 
ments in  support  of  their  system. 


CHAPTER    V 

The  Distribution  of  Ixheritantes  in  Frante 
Division  of  inheritances  according  to  their  importance 
Analysis — Inherited  shares  compared  with  un- 
divided inheritances — Decrease  in  the  number  of 
greater  shares  and  increase  in  the  number  of  shares 
less  than  100,000  fr — Number  of  inheritances  in 
relation  to  number  of  deaths — Conclusions. 

Since  the  Finance  Law  of  February  25th,  1901, 
the  details  of  inheritances  after  deduction  of 
liabilities,  are  available.  Those  who  introduced 
and  carried  this  law  include  a  number  of  men  who, 
in  the  absence  of  adequate  information  with  regard 
to  the  previously  ascertained  facts,  imagined  that 
this  inventory  would  supply  them  with  a  formiid- 
able  collectivist  argument  in  favour  of  the  expro- 
priation of  the  land,  of  minerals  and  of  all  the 
means  of   production   and  exchange. 

The  registry  places  inheritances  in  thirteen 
graduated  classes,  according  to  the  total  amount 
of  their  net  assets.  The  figures  for  1907  are  as 
follows  : — ^ 


Number. 

Total. 

I 

to 

500   fr. 

116,323 

27,686,273 

501 

2,000 

106,807 

135.161,531 

2,001 

10,000 

114.695 

562,248,134 

10,001 

50,000 

47.967 

1,014,215,497 

50,001 

100,000 

7.703 

532,420,963 

100,001 

250,000 

5,018 

776,396,189 

250,001 

500,000 

I.713 

576,962,824 

500,001 

1,000,000 

814 

565,460,475 

1,000,000 

2,000,000 

360 

463,766,691 

2,000,000 

5,000,000 

134 

442,005,981 

5,000,000 

10,000,000 

33 

234.955.717 

10,000,000 

50,000,000 

7 

252,640,482 

0 

ver 

•  50,000,000 
Total 

1 1 

373,640,482 

401.574 

5,461,843,339 

1  Estates    which   have    paid   duty    more    than    once    are   only 
counted  once,  on  the  occasion  of  their  first  declaration. 


156  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

The  small  estates  of  from  i  to  2,000  fr.  are  223, 
130  in  number,  i.e.  55  per  cent.,  with  net  assets  of 
162  millions,  i.e.  rather  less  than  3  per  cent,  of  the 
whole.  The  number  of  people  with  small  inherit- 
ances is  very  large,  while  the  total  of  their  inherited 
property  is  restricted. 

But  562  million  francs  have  to  be  distributed 
among  114,695  persons  in  the  series  of  estates 
ranging  from  2,001  to  10,000  francs.  This  is  a 
new  series  representing  28  per  cent,  of  the  number 
of  inheritances,  and  10  per  cent,  of  the  total  net 
assets  to  be  distributed.  If  one  confine  oneself 
to  this  series,  this  numerous  class  is  a  class  of 
capitalists  with  a  keen  desire  to  increase  their 
capital.  Inheritances  of  between  10,001  and  50,000 
francs  are  47,967  in  number,  i.e.  11  per  cent., 
representing  1,014  millions.  If  one  includes  the 
series  between  50,000  and  100,000  francs,  i.e.  9 
per  cent.,  one  finds  a  total  of  40  per  cent,  for  the 
two  series  or  18  per  cent,  of  the  total. 

If  we  take  the  large  fortunes  of  from  a  million 
to  50  million  francs,  we  find  534  estates,  with  a 
total  of  1,231  millions,  i.e.  22  per  cent,  of  the  total. 
There  was  no  estate  above  50  millions  in  1907. 

But  these  estates  are  divided,  and  if  (after 
making  allowance  for  charitable  bequests)  we  com- 
pare the  number  of  portions  with  the  number  of 
estates,  we  find  :  — 

5,000,000  to    10,000,000  fr 

2,000,000  ,,    5,000,000 

1,000,000  ,,    2,000,000 

500,001  ,,    1,000,000 

250,001  ,,    500,001 

Except  in  the  last  series,  the  number  of  portions 
is  smaller  than  the  number  of  estates  :  the  estates 
are  divided   and    the  heirs   fall    back    one  or  two 


Number  of 

Number  of 

Estates. 

Portions. 

33 

12 

134 

80 

360 

231 

841 

675 

1,713 

1,766 

INHERITANCE   IN   FRANCE  157 

classes — a  movement  which  is  the  converse  of  con- 
centration. In  the  case  of  estates,  however,  of 
250,000  francs  and  under  the  number  of  portions 
is  higher  than  that  of  estates  to  be  distributed  :  — 


Number  of 

Number  of 

Estates. 

Portions. 

00,001 

to 

250,000 

fr. 

5,018 

5,378 

50,001 

100,000 

7»703 

9,011 

10,001 

50,000 

47,967 

58,430 

2,001 

10,000 

1 14,695 

172,042 

501 

2,000 

106,807 

272,436 

I 

500 

116,323 

606,065 

This  follows  from  the  same  tendency.  The 
division  of  large  fortunes  has  driven  the  benefici- 
aries back  into  the  lower  series,  so  that  they  add  to 
the  number  of  portions  into  which  the  lesser  estates 
are  divided.  This  movement  is  the  exact  opposite 
to  that  which  is  alleged  by  Karl  Marx  and  his  fol- 
lowers. A  comparison  of  the  total  assets  of  estates 
devolving  by  succession  and  of  the  amount  of  the 
portions  confirms  this  explanation  :  — 

Total  Amount  of 

Francs.  Francs.  Assets.  Portions. 

10  million  to  50  million  106,405,851  743,949 

5       ,,         ,,    10       ,,  234,476,509  77,239,707 

2       ,,         ,,5       ,,  389,140,686  236,461,995 

I       ,,         ,,2       ,,  501,989,516  314,348,078 

I       ,,         ,,     500,000  fr  579,240,211  431,094,157 

250.000  fr.  to  500,000  fr.  602,865,879  573,111,349 

In  every  instance  the  total  of  the  portions  is  less 
than  the  total  of  the  estates.  The  effect  of  division 
has  been  to  cause  the  amount  of  capital  to  decline 
cla.ss  by  class  down  to  the  class  of  estates  of  from 

100.001  to  200,000  francs.  Below  this  class  the 
total  capital  increases  in  each  class  concurrently 
with  the  number  of  portions  ;  — 


Class 

100,001 

to 

250,000  fr 

50,000 

100,000 

io,ooo 

50,000 

2,001 

10,000 

501 

2,000 

I 

500 

158  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Total  Estate 

devolving  by  Total 

Inheritance.  Portions. 

776,396,189  802,942,211 

532,420,963  608,641,512 

1,014,215,497  1,181,532,663 

562,248,134  798,884,437 

i35»  161,531  304,229,841 
27,686,273        111,728,211 

Of  the  total  estate,  the  large  fortunes  of  more 
than  a  million  are  22  per  cent.,  and  the  portions  11 
per  cent.  The  portions  of  less  than  100,000  are  55 
per  cent.,  and  those  of  between  100,000  francs  and 
a  million  are  S3  per  cent.  The  amount  of  the  large 
portions  of  more  than  a  million  is  therefore  12  per 
cent,  of  the  total. 

In  1854  the  number  of  estates  was  438,905,  the 
number  of  deaths  being  859,000,  i.e.,  51.11  percent. 
In  1874,  the  figures  are  500,311  and  816,000  respec- 
tively, a  percentage  of  61.43;  and  in  1900,  534,000 
and  854,000,  a  percentage  of  62.60.  Since  this 
date,  the  mortality  has  always  been  less  than 
800,000.  Since  the  law  of  February  25th,  1901,  only 
one  statement  is  made  for  each  estate,  so  that  no 
comparison  is  possible ;  nevertheless,  the  percentage 
of  estates  to  deaths  is  60.30.  And  it  is  necessary 
to  take  into  account  children,  minors  and  persons 
who  have  made  gifts  inter  vivos  either  by  deed  or 
by  delivery. 

In  a  speech  delivered  on  June  14th,  1906,  M. 
Jaur^s  said,  "400,000  estates  pass  by  hereditary 
succession,  but  the  number  of  deaths  is  eight  or 
nine  hundred  thousand  annually."  His  con- 
clusion is  that  one  half  of  those  who  die 
have  no  assets,  since  their  death  has  not 
caused  the  distribution  of  an  estate  by  here- 
ditary succession.  And  there  are  those  who,  in 
order  to  escape  the  duty  of  registering  their  estate, 
conceal  the  amount  which  they  could  leave  by  gifts 
made  by  delivery  inter  vivos.  Such  gifts  remain 
unknown,  but  an  addition  should  be  made  to  the 


INHERITANCE   IN   FRANCE  159 

total  assets  of  the  smaller  estates,  although  no  figure 
can  be  stated. 

The  registry  of  estates  estimated  the  total  volun- 
tary transfers  of  property  inter  vivos  at  1,038 
million  francs.  A  number  of  these  are  legacies  by 
anticipation  ;  they  are  therefore  also  to  be  added  to 
the  value  of  inherited  estate  in  order  to  arrive  at  the 
figures  of  private  property  in  France. 

The  addition  of  200,000  deaths  of  minors  and  of 
105,000  transfers  inter  vivos  to  the  400,000  inherited 
estates  gives  a  total  of  700,000.  So  far  from  one- 
half  of  the  persons  dying  leaving  no  estate,  the 
number  should  be  less  than  8  per  cent.,  and  of  these 
a  number  have  succeeded  in  leaving  estate  without 
declaring  it.  This  is  of  no  consequence;  in  1907 
there  are  401,000  estates  and  830,000  deaths,  but 
how  many  portions  do  these  estates  represent  ? 
The  number  of  portions  is  1,124,000,  so  that  there 
are  m.ore  beneficiaries  than  there  are  deaths,  a  fact 
which  is  not  at  all  surprising. 

According  to  the  figures,  there  are  93  per  cent, 
whose  portions  do  not  exceed  10,000  francs.  Possi- 
bly if  it  were  proposed  to  distribute  among  them 
the  funds  of  the  323  proprietors  of  portions  exceed- 
ing a  million  a  number  of  them  would  accept  the 
offer  without  troubling  themselves  about  the  legiti- 
macy of  such  a  division,  or  would  find  pretexts  for 
justifying  it.  But  if  it  were  proposed  to  the  same 
individuals  that  they  should  pay  their  portions  of 
200,  2,000,  5,000,  or  10,000  francs  respectively  into 
the  common  exchequer  they  would  exclaim  against 
the  robbery,  and  would  defend  their  property  with 
the  most  ferocious  heroism.  They  are  quite  willing 
to  receive,  but  unwilling  to  give.  In  order  to 
ensure  their  paying  taxes,  they  have  to  be  deluded 
by  "being  made  to  pay  without  realising  it."  This 
deep-seated  feeling  for  individual  property,  extend- 
ing itself  day  by  day  by  reason  of  the  increase  of 
individual  uwners  of  property,  is  the  reason  why 
there  is  no  future  for  collectivism,  a  word  which 


i6o  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

merely  serves  to  amuse  one  category  of  simpletons 
and  to  terrify  another,  playing  the  same  parts  as 
the  words  "Paradise"  and '"Hell." 

The  conclusions  which  follow  are  therefore  :  — 
(i).  That  owners  of  small  capital  and  proper- 
ties are  the  majority  in  France. 
(2).  That  small  fortunes  and  fortunes  providing 
a  small  competence  constitute  about  two- 
thirds  of  the  whole. 
(3).  That  there  is  no  future  for  collectivism, 
inasmuch    as    every    capitalist    or    pro- 
prietor is  quite  willing  to  receive,  but  no 
one  is  willing  to  surrender,  his  heritage 
to  the  common  exchequer. 
Karl  Marx  put  the  question  of  the  concentration 
of  capital  in  the  following  way  :  Capital  will  become 
concentrated  in  a  small  number  of  hands  :  the  old 
middle-classes,  men  of  business  and  men  of  inde- 
pendent   means,    artisans    and    peasants    will    all 
decline  into  the  proletariat  (Communist  Manifesto, 
Art.  18).     This  assertion  would  be  correct  if  there 
were  less  individuals  who  take  a  share  in  property 
devolving  by  inheritance  than  there  were  in  1847, 
the  date  of  Marx'  Manifesto.     The  sub-division  of 
transferable   securities   and    the   increase   of   small 
deposits  in  the  savings  banks  justify  us  in  saying 
without   temerity   that   there  are   more   individuals 
with   a   share   in    property   than    there   were   sixty 
years  ago,  and  consequently  that  the  facts  contradict 
Marx'  prophecies. 


CHAPTER  VI 

The  Distribution!  of  Landed  Property  in  France 

i.  M.  Jaures — "Ownership  of  small  properties  is  a 
legend." — Number  of  properties. — Number  of  pro- 
prietors. 

ii.  Extent  of  the  various  classes  of  properties. — Small 
properties,  36  per  cent,  of  land  available  for  cultiva- 
tion. 

iii.  Agricultural  inquiry  of  1892. — Agriculture  on  a  large 
scale  only  preponderates  in  forestry. 

iv.     Distribution  of  individuals  ensraged  in  agriculture. 

V.  The  peasant  proprietors  and  the  farmer. — M. 
Briand — Advantages  of  the  farmer. 

I 

On  November  21st,  1893,  M.  Jaures  exclaimed 
"Ownership  of  small  properties  is  a  legend.  Of 
the  seven  millions  of  workers  scattered  over  our  soil 
there  are  hardly  1,500,000  who  own  their  own  land, 
and  by  their  side  are  800,000  farmers,  400,000  small 
farmers,  two  millions  of  farm  labourers  and  two 
millions  of  day  labourers."  These  assertions  are 
drawn  from  statistics  to  which  M.  Jaures  would  not 
find  it  easy  to  refer.     The  facts  are  as  follows. 

The  number  of  assessments  for  taxation  of  land 
unbuilt  upon  is  :  — 

1883     14,233,000 

1893     14,009,000 

1906     13,498,000 

The  number  has  decreased  by  about  4.9  per  cent., 
a  decrease  which  is  due  in  great  measure  to  the 
reduction  in  small  properties  effected  by  the  law  of 
1897,  which  suppressed  a  certain  number. 

The  number  of  assessments  of  land  built  upon 
has  undergone  an  insignificant  decrease  :  — 

1883      6,558,000 

1893      6,556,000 

1906      6,452,000 

L 


i62  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

The  number  of  assessments  does  not  indicate  the 
number  of  owners.  According  to  the  inquiry  in 
1851-1853  there  were  7,845,000  owners  for 
12,445,000,  or  63  per  cent.  A  m(jst  complete  in- 
quiry into  the  vahiation  of  properties  unbuik 
upon,  made  between  1879  and  1883,  under  the  able 
direction  of  M,  Boutin,  exhibits  the  following 
proportions  :  — 

Number  of  assessments  14,234,000 

Number  of  owners  8,454,000 

The  proportion  is  as  follows  :  — 

Per     1,000    inhabitants    234 

Per  1,000  households 849 

Per   1,000  properties   594 

Admitting  the  number  to  have  been  reduced  by 
5  per  cent.,  there  remain  more  than  eight  million 
owners  and  800  per  thousand  households,  or  a 
proportion  of  80  per  cent,  of  owners  of  property 
in  land.  A  French  family  consists  on  an  average 
of  four  individuals,  so  that  we  have  34  million 
direct  or  indirect  owners  of  property  in  land  un- 
built upon.  We  exclude  the  number  of  owmers 
of  land  containing  buildings  in  order  to  escape  the 
charge  of  needless  repetition,  although  a  number 
of  them  only  own  one  property,  but  we  do  not 
include  them.  It  follows  that  8  individuals  out  of 
10  are  in  occupation  of  land. 

II 

A  deduction  must  be  made  from  the  52,857,000 
hectares  which  represent  the  area  of  France,  of 
vState  and  municipal  lands,  which  are  not  taxable, 
highways,  roads,  public  squares,  cemeteries,  public 
buildings,  rivers  and  lakes,  and  of  the  State 
forests  occupying  an  area  of  998,000  hectares,  say 
a  total  of  2,822,000  hectares.  This  leaves 
50,035,000  hectares,  from  which  are  to  be  deducted 
about  200,000  hectares  of  land  covered  with  build- 
ings, to  which  we  propose  to  return,  and  105,000 
for  railways  and  canals.     What  proportion  of  the 


LANDED  PROPERTY  IN  FRANCE  163 

total  area  is  occupied  by  agricultural  properties? 
The  following  list  shews  their  sub-division  accord- 
ing to  the  manner  of  cultivation  :  — 

Hectares. 

Orchards,  hemp-fields  and  gardens  695,929 
Arable    land,     ponds,    plantations, 

land     covered     with     buildings, 

pieces  of  water,  canals,  nurseries 

and     railways     26,173,657 

Meadow  and  grass  land  4,998,280 

Vineyards        2,320,533 

Woodlands     8,397,131 

Moorland,  pastures  and  other  land 

not  under  cultivation    6,746,800 

Agricultural   land   not   included   in 

the   above   classification    702,819 

Total 50,035,159 

The  distribution  of  property  according  to  the 
size  of  the  holdings,  as  ascertained  by  a  survey 
made  in  1884,  and  excluding  7,000  hectares  in 
Paris  and  about  629,000  hectares  in  the  communes 
of  Corsica,  Savov  and  Upper  Savoy  which  are  not 
vet  surveved,  is  as  follows  :  — 

Clagg  of  Area  in  No.  of  holdings. 

Holding.  hectares.  Actual  No.    Percentage. 

(a)  Ouite  small  Less  than  2  10,426,368  74.09 

(b)  Small  2  to  6  2,174,188  15.47 

(c)  Moderate  6 — 50  1,351,499  9.58 
Cd)  Large  50 — 800  105,070  0.74 
(e)  Verv  large  Over  200  17,676  0.12 

Totals     14,074,761     100.00 

Nine-tenths  of  the  holdings  are  less  than  six 
hectares,  three-quarters  are  less  than  two.  A  de- 
tailed examination  shews  2,670,000  holdings  of 
between  20  and  30  ares;  2,482,380  of  between  20 
and    50,    and     1,987,480  of  from   50  ares  to  one 


i64  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

hectare,  i.e.  8,853,000  holdings  or  61.14  per  cent, 
of  holdings  of  less  than  one  hectare  in  proportion 
to  the  whole. 


Class  of 

Area  in         Total 

area  in 

Holding. 

hectares. 

hectares.       Percentage. 

(a)  Quite  small 

Less  than  2 

5. 

211,456         10.53 

(b)  Small 

2  to  6 

7.543,347       i5-25 

(c)  Moderate 

6—50 

19, 

217,902         38.94 

(d)  Large 

50 — 200 

9, 

398,057         19.04 

(e)  Very  large 

Over  200 

8. 

,017,542         16.23 

An  analysis  of  the  smallest  holdings  of  less  than 

one  hectare  discloses:  — 

Area  in 

Total 

area. 

Area. 

Percentage. 

Over  10 

108,331 

0.22 

10  to  20 

213,789 

0.43 

20  to  50 

825,784 

1.66 

50  to   I  he 

ctare    1,426,785 
...,.     2,574,588 

2.88 

Total  .... 

5-19 

III 

The  Socialist  argument  is  based  upon  the  exist- 
ence of  numerous  small  properties  and  of  a  small 
number  of  large  proprietors  owning  the  greater 
part  of  the  soil.  Large  properties  of  more  than  50 
hectares  occupy  17,400,000  out  of  50,000,000 
hectares,  i.e.  34  per  cent. 

After  indulging  for  a  long  time  in  recriminations 
against  the  sub-division  of  property,  the  public 
now  exclaim  against  the  dangers  of  large  proper- 
ties. From  the  total  of  large  properties  one  has 
to  deduct :  — 

(i)  Property    of   departments   and    communes 

(public  property). 
(2)  Property    wholly    or    partially    subject    to 

mortmain. 1 

1  The  ownership  of  the  property  of  churches  and  religious 
congregations  has  changed,  but  not  the  properties  themselves. 


LANDED  PROPERTY  IN  FRANCE  165 

The  extent  of  these  is  as  follows  :  — 

hectares 

Property   of    Departments    6,513 

Property  of  Communes  4,621,450 

Hospitals    190,122^ 

Ecclesiastical      property, 

seminaries  and  convents     48,271 

Eleemosynary  and  charit- 
able    institutions     38,022 

Religious    congregations...     20,423  )       381,598 

Railway  Companies  (as  re- 
gards such  of  their 
property  as  belongs  to 
them  exclusively)  and 
other  companies 84,760 


Total 5,009,061 

The  figure  of  50,035,000  is  therefore  reduced  by 
(in  round  numbers)  5,000,000,  leaving  a  total  area 
of  45,000,000  hectares.  This  deduction  almost 
exckisively  affects  the  large  properties,  whose 
extent  being  17,400,000  hectares  is  therefore 
reduced  to  12,400,000.  But  woodlands  occupy  an 
area  of  8,397,000  hectares  apart  from  the  million 
hectares  of  State  forests,  and  moorland  and  other 
land  not  under  cultivation  occupies  an  area  of 
6,746,000 — a  total  area  of  15,213,000  hectares, 
Deducting  this  from  the  total  of  50  million  hectares, 
we  obtain  35  million.  Woods  and  moorland  are 
a  considerable  element  in  large  properties,  and  are 
a  negligible  quantity  in  the  small  ones.  As  com- 
pared with  the  35  million  which  are  actually 
productive,  we  have  :  — 

(a)  Quite    small     holdings    (o   to    2 
hectares)    5,211,000 

(b)  Small  holdings  (2  to  6  hectares)  7,549,000 

12,760,000 


i66  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Small  holdings  are  therefore  36  per  cent,  of  the 
total  area  of  arable  land,  meadows,  vineyards, 
gardens,  etc. 

These  figures  can  be  checked  by  the  agricultural 
survey  of  1892,  which  should  have  been  revised  in 
1902,  but  was  neglected  because  so  many  states- 
men and  legislators  are  as  frightened  of  statistics  as 
bad  men  of  business  are  of  a  balance-sheet.  The 
small  rural  properties  of  less  than  10  hectares 
number  4,852,000  out  of  5,700,000  and  occupy  an 
area  of  11,626,000  hectares.  The  711,000  properties 
of  from  10  to  40  hectares  occupy  14,312,000 
hectares,  while  the  138,000  properties  of  more  than 
40  hectares  occupy  22,492,000.  But  the  latter 
include  5,827,000  hectares  of  woods  and  forests 
and  3,913,000  of  moorland,  while  the  properties  of 
from  10  to  40  hectares  include  1,567,000  hectares 
of  woods  and  forests,  and  1,367,000  of  moorland, 
giving  a  total  of  7,324,000  hectares  of  woods  and 
forests  and  5,278,000  of  moorland.  The  small 
properties  only  contain  1,107,000  hectares  of  woods 
and  forests  and  945,000  of  moorland.  A  deduction 
of  12,700,000  hectares  must  therefore  be  made  from 
the  36,800,000  hectares  occupied  by  large  and 
moderate-sized  properties,  leaving  23,800,000 
hectares  occupied  by  properties  of  less  than  10 
hectares. 

According  to  the  assessment  of  1879-81  the  value 
in  the  market  of  woods  was  745  francs  a  hectare, 
and  of  moorland  207  francs,  while  the  value  of 
arable  land  was  2,197  francs  and  of  meadow  land 
2,961.  The  agricultural  survey  of  1892  (p.  359) 
shows  that  the  relative  distribution  of  various  kinds 
of  cultivation  (including  woods  but  excluding 
moorland)  was  as  follows:  — 

percent. 

Large    properties    (over    40    hectares) 
woods    67.92 

Small    and    moderate-sized    properties 

(under  40  hectares)  arable  land  60.82 


LANDED  PROPERTY  IN  FRANCE  167 

per  cent. 
Small  and  moderate  properties  (under 

40  hectares)    meadows   68. go 

Small  and  moderate  properties  (under 

40  hectares)  vineyards  68.96 

Small  and  moderate  properties  (under 

40    hectares)    gardens    76-73 

It  was  thus  only  in  the  large  properties  that  the 
woodlands  predominated.  The  number  of  large 
agricultural  properties,  localised  in  certain  depart- 
ments, had  decreased  from  1882  to  1892  from 
142,000  to  138,000;  the  number  of  quite  small  ones 
had  risen  from  2,168,000  to  2,235,000  and  from 
1,083,000  hectares  to  1,327,000.  The  average  area 
of  each  had  increased  from  0.50  ares  to  0.59 — an 
increase  of  nearly  one-fifth,  and  this  increase  was 
observable  in  60  departments  out  of  87.  In  nearly 
all  the  departments  North  of  the  Loire  and  down 
the  left  bank  of  the  Rhone  as  far  as  the  Is^re  the 
areas  of  smiall  and  moderate-sized  agricultural 
properties  had  increased  during  this  decennial 
period.  An  inquiry  made  by  order  of  the  Ministry 
of  Agriculture  in  1908-1909  shewed  that  the  num- 
ber of  small  owners  increased  in  42  departments, 
diminished  in  13,  and  remained  the  same  in  17. 

IV 

The  agricultural  sur\-ey  of  1892  shewed  that 
agricultural  properties  were  held  as  follows:  — 

1882  1892 

Occupiers    cultivating    their 

own  land  exclusively...  2,150,000  2,199,000 
Occupiers    who    are    tenant 

farmers      1,374,000     1,203,000 

3,525,000     3,387,000 

The  number  of  tenant  farmers  has  decreased, 
while  the  number  of  occupiers  cultivating  their 
own  land  exclusively  has  increased.     The  statistics 


i68  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

of  the  census  of  1901  give  the  number  of  independ- 
ent cviltivators  of  agricultural  properties  as  having 
increased  from  3,086,000  in  1896  to  3,469,000  in 
1901.  The  survey  of  1892  numbers  7,200,000 
separate  undertakings;  a  number  of  farmers  and 
tenant  farmers  therefore  cultivate  two  or  more 
undertakings  or  properties. 

M.  Auge  Laribe,  a  Socialist,  who  is  the  author 
of  a  book  on  vine-growling  in  the  South  of 
France,  concludes  that  "on  all  points  we  find  our- 
selves in  the  presence  of  contradictions  and 
uncertainties. "1  We  should  be  all  the  more 
anxious  to  congratulate  him  upon  this  admission 
seeing  that  Socialists  have  not  accustomed  us  to 
so  much  modesty. 

M.  Briand  says^ :  "The  ownership  of  his  land 
is  necessary  to  the  agriculturist,  and  such 
ownership  alone  will  protect  him  against  his  mis- 
fortunes." But  the  Socialist  idea,  is  the  abolition 
of  land  as  the  property  of  the  agriculturist,  so  that 
M.  Briand  in  submitting  the  idea  of  peasant 
proprietorship  is  setting  up  an  idea  of  political 
conservatism.  Nevertheless  he  is  mistaken  if  he 
believes  that  all  the  cultivators  of  the  soil  are 
inxious  to  possess  their  "instrument  of  labour." 
Mr,  Winfrey  has  given  an  account^  of  an  attempt  at 
a  home-colony  which  was  made  for  fifteen  years  in 
the  counties  of  Lincoln  and  Norfolk.  He  placed 
allotments  of  land,  amounting  in  1894  to  1,384 
acres,  at  the  disposal  of  a  number  of  agricultural 
labourers.  He  reports  that  in  order  to  save  their 
small  capital  and  to  turn  it  to  the  best  account  they 
would  rather  rent  their  allotments  than  buy  them. 

Arthur  Young,  an  English  agriculturist,  who 
studied  agriculture  in   France  from    1787  to   1789, 

1  "La  Viticulture  industrielle,"  1907,  Giard  et  Briere,  edit. 

2  Discours  de  Roanne,  24  juin  1906. 

3  At    the    fifth    congress    of    the   International    Co-operative 
Alliance. 


LANDED  PROPERTY  IN  FRANCE  169 

said  of  his  own  countrymen  at  that  time  that 
any  of  them  who  possessed  ^^200  "did  not  buy  a 
piece  of  land,  but  rented  it  and  equipped  a  good 
farm  with  the  money."  Except  in  certain  parts  of 
the  country,  where  cultivation  on  a  small  scale  is 
rendered  necessary  by  the  nature  of  the  soil  or  of 
what  it  produces,  a  French  peasant  with  a  piece  of 
land  worth  such  a  sum  finds  it  in  his  interest  to 
sell  it  and  devote  the  proceeds  to  the  purchase  of 
live  stock,  plant  and  improvements,  and  to  rent  a 
piece  of  land  containing  20  or  30  hectares,  instead 
of  contenting  himself  with  the  two  or  three  hectares 
which  are  the  equivalent  of  such  a  capital  sum. 
He  can  find  an  owner  who  will  entrust  him  with  a 
piece  of  land  worth  ten  times  the  amount  of  his 
capital. 

There  is  no  other  industry  in  which  a  capitalist 
on  a  small  scale  can  obtain  an  investment  of  the 
same  extent  and  with  so  small  a  liabilitv.  A  farmer 
with  method,  good  health  and  good  rnanagement, 
and  a  wife  with  the  same  qualities,  can  bring  up 
a  family  in  conditions  which  are  greatly  superior 
than  those  which  would  have  obtained  had  he  been 
content  with  the  piece  of  land  of  which  he  was 
originally  the  proprietor. 

In  spite  of  these  advantages  to  the  farmer, 
neither  properties  nor  agricultural  undertakings 
have  tended  to  become  concentrated  in  France, 
while  German  Socialists  have  been  constrained  to 
admit  that  the  same  observation  holds  good  in 
their  own  country. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Marx'  Prin'ciples  and  Small  Properties 

The  ideal  of  collective  production  aud  the  peasant. 
— Lafargue  and  Guesde  disown  the  programme  of  the 
Havre  Congress — Engels  protests — Liebknecht  and 
Bebel  abjure  the  collectivist  doctrine. — Accusations 
of  Schippel  and  Kautsky — Inconsistency  of  M. 
Jaures. 

The  supporters  of  the  doctrines  of  Marx  in  their 
purest  form  display  the  nonchalance  with  which 
they  put  aside  their  "scientific  doctrines"  when 
they  are  inconvenient.  M.  Werner  Sombart  puts 
the  difficulty  in  this  way,  "Ought  submission  to 
the  ideal  of  collectivist  production,  which  depends 
upon  production  on  a  large  scale,  to  be  imposed 
upon  modifications  of  that  principle  for  the  benefit 
of  the  small  farmer?" 

The  programme  of  the  Havre  Congress  of  1880, 
drawn  up  by  Karl  Marx,  proclaims  the  "return  to 
cc'llectivism  of  all  the  means  of  production."  But 
three  years  later,  Guesde,  who  was  responsible  for 
the  adoption  of  this  programme,  and  Paul 
Lafargue,  who  was  Marx'  son-in-law,  and  had 
introduced  it,  abandoned  it,  considering  it  incon- 
venient on  political  grounds,  and  set  out  upon  the 
conquest  of  the  small  proprietor.  "The  Socialist 
party,"  they  said,  "far  from  depriving  him  of  his 
land,  will  guarantee  his  possession."  Forgetting 
that  Marx  had  incessantly  repeated  that  "Society 
can  only  be  reformed  by  the  destruction  of  private 
property,"  they  obtained  the  adoption  of  an 
agrarian  programme  at  the  ^^larseilles  Congress  in 
1892,  based  upon  the  ownership  of  small  holdings, 
a  result  which  was  aggravated  by  the  fact  that 
Liebknecht  was  present  and  took  part  in  this  re- 
cantation. Engels  was  angry  and  wrote  that 
"ownership  of  small  holdings  must  necessarily  be 
destroyed  and  annihilated  by  the  development  of 


MARX'  PRINCIPLES  171 

capital.  Whosoever  desires  to  maintain  it  in  a 
permanent  form,  sacrifices  the  great  principle  and 
becomes  a  reactionary.  "^  He  reproached  the 
French  Socialists  with  adopting  an  appearance  of 
disloyalty  by  seeming  to  promise  the  peasants  that 
which  they  were  unable  to  perform.  Bebel  pro- 
claimed that  if  the  peasant  claimed  to  remain  an 
owner,  it  only  remained  for  him  to  desert  to  the 
antisemitic  camp.  The  German  Socialist  party 
nevertheless  decided  upon  a  grand  inquiry,  as  the 
result  of  which  they  published,  on  July  i6th,  1895, 
a  programme  which  "had  nothing  in  common  with 
the  abolition  of  individual  property  and,  on  the  con- 
trary, would  have  the  effect  of  ameliorating  the 
condition  of  the  owners  of  agricultural  land." 

The  question  became  acute  at  the  Breslau  Con- 
gress. Bebel,  like  Liebknecht,  was  carried  away 
by  political  considerations;  they  abandoned 
collective  property  in  favour  of  small  peasant 
proprietorship.  They  were  opposed  by  Ivautsky 
and  Dr.  Schippel,  who  said,  "Does  not  the  Erfurt 
programme  declare  that  ownership  of  small 
properties  is  doomed  to  destruction,  and  yet  you 
promise  to  extend  it  and  to  continue  those  who 
hold  it  in  their  possessions?"  Mme.  Zetkin  ex- 
claimed, "The  interest  of  the  party  requires  the 
peasants  to  join  the  proletariat,  however  painful  to 
them  the  operation  may  be.  Since  Marx  has 
demonstrated  that,  in  accordance  with  the  fatal  law 
of  capitalistic  evolution,  the  peasant's  destiny  is  to 
descend  the  steps  of  the  ladder  of  misery,  why  give 
him  doses  to  fortify  him  on  his  way?"  Dr.  Schippel 
denounced  the  supporters  of  the  agrarian  pro- 
gramme as  rope  dancers,  charlatans  and  makers 
of  snares  for  yokels.  But  the  point  was  to  win 
votes  for  the  elections.  Kautsky  condemned  the 
programme  of  the  agrarian  committee  in  the  light 
of  the  gospel  of  Karl   Marx.     Such  and  such  an 

1   Bourdeau,   "I'Evolution  du   Socialisme,"   p.  297. 


172  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

article  was  contrary  to  such  and  such  a  paragraph 
of  the  "Communist  Manifesto,"  or  such  and  such 
a  chapter  of  "Capital."  He  carried  a  declaration 
against  the  system  of  individual  landed  property 
by  a  majority  of  158  votes  to  63,  but  accepted  an 
additional  provision  in  these  terms  :  "The  Congress 
recognises  that  agriculture  requires  to  be  regulated 
by  special  laws  differing  from  those  which  regulate 
industry."  It  is  necessary  to  study  and  dwell 
upon  these  laws,  but  this  particular  incident  is  not 
calculated  to  reassure  small  owners.  The  doctrine 
is  a  communistic  one  and  the  qualifications  by  which 
certain  Socialists  seek  to  attenuate  it  in  particular 
circumstances  or  with  regard  to  some  particular 
class  are  mere  political  trickery.  The  owners  of 
small  properties  are  almost  everywhere  suspicious. 
They  would  not  object  to  the  expropriation  of 
others  for  their  benefit,  but  they  have  no  desire  to 
cast  their  own  possessions  into  a  common  abyss 
from  v/hich  they  would  be  certain  never  to  recover 
them. 

As  for  M.  Jaur^s,  he  stated  in  1893  that  the 
"ownership  of  small  properties  is  a  legend." 
Later,  he  showed  a  good  deal  of  tenderness  for 
small  "peasant  proprietorship,"  although  in  1901 
he  denounced  it  in  these  words:  "The  hour  is 
drawing  near  when  no  one  will  be  able  to  speak  to 
the  country  of  the  maintenance  of  individual 
property  without  covering  himself  with  ridicule 
and  at  the  same  time  branding  himself  with  the 
mark  of  an  inferior  intellect."^  On  June  14th,  1906, 
he  was  obliged  to  recognise  that  "property  has 
taken  hold  (jf  the  democrats  in  every  fibre,"  and,  he 
might  have  added,  of  the  Socialists  as  well. 


1   "Etudes    soeialistes,"    j).    161. 


CHAPTER    Vni 
Limited  Liability  Companies 

Multiplication  of  capitalists — Two  advantages— 31,799 
holders  of  preference  shares  in  the  United  States 
Steel  Corporation — "Shirtsleeves" — Opponents  of 
Socialism  in  the  United  States. 

We  have  seen  that  Herr  Bernstein,  far  from  looking 
upon  limited  liability  companies  as  instruments  of 
confiscation,  considers  them  as  means  for  the 
distribution  of  capital.  Mr.  Flint  says  that^  the 
large  industries  were  formerly  in  the  hands  of  a 
small  number  of  people  and  were  confined  to  a  few 
families ;  nowadays  they  are  greatly  divided. 
"There  are  a  hundred  times  as  many  people 
interested  in  our  industries  now  as  there  were  25 
years  ago,  and  there  probably  will  be  at  the  end 
of  another  10  years  a  hundred  times  as  many  more. 
So  these  interests  are  being  more  widely  dis- 
tributed."^  Mr.  Schwab,  who  was  a  director  of 
the  United  States  Steel  Corporation,  and  began 
life  as  a  workm.an,  has  proved  by  force  of  example 
that  capitalism  is  accessible  to  all.  The  securities 
issued  by  the  trusts  associate  the  multitude  of 
holders  with  them  in  their  success,  and,  far  from 
adding  to  the  numljer  of  the  proletariat,  increase 
the  number  of  capitalists. 

There  are  two  great  advantages  in  limited 
liability  companies  :  they  enable  individuals  to 
embark  upon  enterprises  which  thev  could  not 
attempt  with  their  own  capital,  and  thev  limit  the 
possible  loss  of  their  subscribers.  They  stand  for 
industrial  democracy. 

There  are  few  businesses  in  which  it  is  possible 
for  an  individual  to  make  an  advantageous  invest- 
ment with  100  francs.  If  he  buys  a  share  or  a 
bond,  he  can  obtain  a  good  profit  from  it,  Avith  a 

1  "United   States  Industrial  Commission,"  vol.  xiii.,  p.  32. 

2  Ibid,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  91. 


174  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

prospect  of  a  rise  in  value  if  he  has  made  a  j^ood 
selection.  The  big  companies  do  not  confirm 
Marx'  law  of  concentration,  for  so  far  from  calling 
members  of  the  proletariat  into  being,  they 
multiply  the  number  of  capitalists.  In  1903  there 
were  31,799  holders  of  preference  shares  in  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation.  The  Americans, 
instead  of  considering  that  they  prevent  each  indi- 
vidual from  attainmg  to  wealth,  say  that  there  are 
only  three  generations  between  shirt  sleeves  and  a 
fortune.^ 

The  "Wall  Street  Journal,"  in  examining  the 
form  taken  by  Socialism  in  the  United  States,  after 
a  careful  investigation  enumerates  the  following 
classes  of  persons  as  being  opposed  to  it : — ^ 

National  Bank  stockholders 318,735 

Stockholders  in  other  banks  (estimated) 300,000 

Stockholders  in  railroads 327,000 

Stockholders    in    industrial    companies    (esti- 
mated)      500,000 

Owners  of  farms     5,739,657 

Manufacturers    500,000 

Wholesale  merchants    42,000 

Bankers  and  brokers     ..,    73,000 

Savings  bank  depositors    7,696,229 

Total  ...   15,496,621 

Undoubtedly,  .says  the  "Wall  Street  Journal," 
the  classes  in  this  list  overlap  to  some  extent.  The 
farmer  may  be  a  shareholder  in  a  bank  or  a  rail- 
way. Be  it  so,  but  making  a  deduction  of  five 
millions,  there  remain  ten  million  individuals  with 
large  or  small  interests  in  these  different  forms  of 
property.  These  ten  million  individuals  represent 
families  which  may  be  estimated  to  average  five 
persons.       Thus  we  have  50  million   individuals, 

1  "Socialism,"  being  Notes  on  a  Political  Tour,  by  Sir 
Henry  Wrixon,    late  Attorney-General    of   Victoria,    1896. 

2  Reproduced    bv   the   Journal    of   Commerce    of  New  York, 
January   30th,    1906. 


LIMITED  LIABILITY  COMPANIES    175 

i.e.  60  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  the  United 
States,  who  are  of  necessity  opponents  of  Socialism, 
and  among  the  most  refractory  and  the  least 
amenable  are  to  be  found  nearly  all  the  women. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Cartels  and  Trusts 

i.  Cartels  only  applicable  to  certain  industries, 
ii.  American  trusts  according  to  M.  Paul  Laf argue— 
"Abolish  competition  and  substitute  a  methodical 
organisation  for  anarchy" — Definition  of  a  "trust" — 
The  anti-trust  law — Financial  organisation  of  the 
trust — Preferred  stock  and  common  stock — Over- 
capitalisation and  competition — Real  and  apparent 
capitalisation  of  trusts — Depreciation  in  1903  and 
1904— Goodwill— "The  tariff  is  the  father  of  the 
trusts" — The  tariff  and  the  profits  of  the  trusts — The 
trusts  have  not  destroyed  competition — Competition 
within  the  trusts— ^Conclusions. 

I 

The  followers  of  Marx  are  full  of  admiration  for 
cartels  and  trusts :  they  assert  that  thev  abolish 
competition  and  that  they  are  thus  instruments  of 
socialistic  politics;  that,  by  concentrating  indus- 
tries within  a  few  large  organisations,  they  facilitate 
the  absorption  of  private  capital  in  collectivism; 
and  that,  finally,  by  their  example,  they  teach  the 
methods  which  collectivist  society  will  have  to 
follow  in  order  to  organise  its  methods  of 
production. 


176  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Neither  cartels  nor  trusts  are  applicable  to  every 
industry.!  On  November  27th,  1907,  M.  Posad- 
owski  compiled  a  list  of  the  industries  in  which 
their  action  was  efifective,  viz.,  the  mining, 
metallurgical  and  chemical  industries,  paper- 
making,  sugar-refining  and  sale  of  alcohol,  pottery, 
cement,  glass  works  on  the  Rhine  and  "in 
Westphalia  and  plate-glass  manufactories. 

Most  of  these  industries  only  supply  raw 
material  or  articles  for  consumption,  one  seldom 
finds  cartels  or  trusts  which  sell  finished  products 
direct  to  the  consumer. 

II 

Socialists  have  naturally  claimed  the  American 
trusts  as  a  justification  of  the  "Communist 
Manifesto."  M.  Paul  Lafargue  is  full  of  enthusi- 
asm for  them,  not  on  this  account  only,  but 
principally  "because  they  suppress  competition 
and  substitute  a  methodical  organisation  for  the 
anarchy  which  prevails  in  capitalist  production." 

Now  the  facts  shew  the  exact  opposite.       The 

Anti-Trust  Law  of  1890  defines  trusts  as  follows^ : 

Every  contract,  combination  in  the  form  of  trust 

or  otherwise,  or  conspiracy,  in  restraint  of  trade  or 

commerce  among  the  several  states,  or  with  foreign 

nations. 

But  the  Anti-Trust  Law  is  not  easily  applicable 
because  the  majority  of  trusts,  far  from  restricting 
industry  or  commerce  between  different  States,  has 
developed  them.  As  regards  foreign  nations,  it  is 
not  the  trusts  that  restrict  commerce  with  them, 
but  the  protective  tariff". 

Mr.  James  Lee,  President  of  the  Pure  Oil  Co., 
defined  a  trust  before  the  Industrial  Commission 
in  the  following  terms:   "A  trust  is  a  corporation 

1  Arthur    Raffalovitch,    "Trusts   and   Cartels."     See   also    La 
oollection  du  Marehe  financier. 

2  For  tlifi  law  on  the  subject,   see  "Tinists,  Poole,   and  Cor- 
porations," edited  by  William  Ripley,  1906. 


CARTELS  AND  TRUSTS  177 

or  combination  of  corporations  intended  to  create 
and  maintain  a  monopoly  in  any  industry."^  Mr. 
Archibald.  Vice-President  of  the  Standard  Oil 
Co.,  replies  that  "under  the  definitions  there  are 
no  trusts." 

The  establishment  of  a  trust  is  composed  of  two 
g^roups  :     (i)    a    promoting-    body,    more    or    less 
nominated  by  some  particular  promoter,  and  (2)  a 
financial   body  which   supplies  the  purchase  price 
of    the    properties  which    are    to    be    included  in 
exchange  for  preferred  shares  and  common  stock. 
The  bonus  is  at  least  equal  to  the  preferred  shares. 
The  holders  of  common   stock  have  no  privileg^es 
and  only  receive  interest  with  the  consent  of  the 
holders  of  preferred  shares.      The  common  stock 
represents  the  intangible  assets,  the  goodwill,  the 
po\ver  of  the  trust   to   make  profits,   and    no   one 
conceals    the    fact    that     this     is   watered    capital. 
Although  there  was  for  several  months  a  period  of 
unprecedented    prosperity    in    the    United    States, 
with    prices    greatly  inflated,   common    stock    has 
almost  invariably  produced  more  disappointments 
than  dividends.     Out  of  seven  or  eight  combina- 
tions,   only   one    from    time    to     time     makes    an 
allotment  to  the  holders  of  common  stock  in  order 
to  maintain  or  to  raise  its  market  price.     Both  the 
promoters  and  the  administrators  of  trusts  agree 
that    the    inflation    of   capital    does    not   affect    the 
shareholder;  all  that  matters  to  him  is  the  income. 
Xow,  such  inflation  denotes  a  decrease  in  the  return 
upon   capital   or  an   increase   in   the  outlet  for  it. 
Mr.  Flint  states  that  inflations  have  given  experi- 
ence to  the  public  and  have  prevented  the  banks 
which   have  abused   the  practice  from  continuing 
their  operations.       The   resultant  economic   inter- 
vention    of     competition     is     that     the     capitalist 
institutes     a     comparison     between     the     different 
instruments  which   are   open    to   him   and   decides 

I  United   States  Industrial  Commission,   vol.   xiii.,   p.  668. 

M 


178  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

upon  that  which  appears  to  him  the  most  advan- 
tageous. The  whole  of  that  portion  of  the  capital 
of  the  trust  which  is  based  upon  anticipations  or 
hopes  is  unlimited  except  bv  the  prudence  of 
capitalists.  Consequently  it  is  an  error  to  attempt 
to  compare  the  capital  of  the  trusts  with  the  total 
wealth  of  the  United  States — an  error  into  which 
M,  Lafargue  does  not  fail  to  lapse. 

The  census  has  estimated  the  value  of  the  trusts, 
under  the  title  of  "combinations,"  which  are  defined 
as  follows :  "  An  industrial  combination  consists  of 
a  number  of  formerlv  independent  mills  which  have 
been  brought  together  into  one  company  under  a 
charter  obtained  for  that  purpose. "^ 

On  June  30th,  igoo,  there  were  185  "combines" 
with  a  total  authorised  capital  of  $3,619,038,000 
distributed  as  follows  : — 

Bonds    270,127,000 

Preferred  shares      1,259,540,000 

Common  stock    2,089,371,000 

In  the  following  years  down  to  1903  there  was  a 
considerable  development  of  trusts,  such  as  the 
United  States  Steel  Corporation,  the  International 
Mercantile  Marine  Com.panv,  and  others. 

M.  Paul  Lafargue  has  obtained  the  figures  for 
his  pamphlet  from  a  small  work  published  by  Mr. 
Moody  in  1903.  I  take  mine  from  a  work  published 
subsequently  to  Mr.  Moody's,  entitled  "The  Truth 
about  the  Trusts,"  of  which  the  author  is  an  ardent 
admirer.     The  figures  are  : — 

Number   of    industrial    trusts  ...  318 

Number  of  concerns  5^300 

Capital       $7,246,000 

The  industrial  trusts  formed  prior  to  January, 
1898,  represented  a  capital  of  $1,196,000,000;  those 
which  were  formed  subsequently  to  that  date,  a 
capital  of  $6,049,000,000.     Ten  trusts  have  each  a 

1  Census     1900.        Census     Repoi'ts.    vol.   vii     (manufactures, 
part  i.),  p.  Ixxv. 


CARTELS  AND  TRUSTS  179 

capital  of  $100,000,000  or  more.  The  seven 
largest  have  a  total  capital  of  $2,662,000,000,  of 
which  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  has 
$1,370,000,000  or  about  one  half.  Thirty  trusts 
have  a  total  capital  of  50  million  dollars,  and  129 
trusts  a  capital  of  ten  million.  But  according  to 
the  census  of  igoo,  common  stock  represented  65 
per  cent.,  and  the  proportion  has  certainlv  not 
diminished,  so  that  $4,700,000,000  must  be 
deducted  from  the  total  of  $7,245,000,000.  Mr. 
Moody  adds  the  following  figures  : — 

Local  concessions,  gas,  tram- 
ways, water  (103  in  number)  $3,105,755,000 

Railways    (comprising     1,040 

original      companies)    $0, 397 » 363, 000 

The  conclusion  he  arrives  at  is  that  the  whole  of 
the  "combines"  represent  8,604  original  companies, 
and  a  capital  of  $20,379,000,000.  He  adds,  with 
regard  to  the  capital  of  the  seven  largest  trusts, 
that  their  capital  is  $2,662,000,000,  while  their 
market  value  (in  1904)  is  $2,278,000,000,  a  decline 
of  384  million  dollars. 

Mr.  Pierpont  Morgan's  "combines"  represent 
$1,540,000,000  or  60  per  cent,  of  the  total  capital  of 
the  seven  largest  trusts.  At  the  market  price  (in 
1004)  they  were  onlv  worth  $820,000,000,  or  less 
than  37  per  cent,  of  t^he  total  market  price  of 
$2,278,000,000. 

The  Shipbuilding  Trust  began  with  a  capital  of 
$3,278,000;  when  it  was  reconstructed,  it  was 
reduced  to  $1,450,000,  i.e.,  a  reduction  of  55  per 
cent. 

The  "Wall  Street  Journal,"  on  October  23rd, 
1903,  published  a  list  of  a  hundred  trusts,  with  a 
total  capital  of  $3,603,000,000,  which  would  have 
obtained  a  price  of  $400,000,000  on  the  market,  and 
recovered  sufficientlv  to  be  valued  at  $2,336,000,000, 
a  decline  of  $1,357,000,000  or  43.4  per  cent  from 
the  price  at  the  time  of  the  boom. 


i8o  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

The  capital  of  the  LTnited  States  Steel  Corpora- 
tion was  $1,370,000,000.  Mr.  Carnegie  was 
paid  $447,416,000  in  shares  for  his  concerns,  which 
had  broucfht  in  six  million  dollars  in  1896,  seven 
million  in  1807,  elevon  and  a  half  million  in  1800, 
and  twenty-one  million  in  1899,  which  was  an  ex- 
ceptional vear.  The  Steel  Corporation  issued 
shares  and  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $1,207,000,000, 
in  exchnnp-e  for  shares  and  bonds  boup-ht 
for  $894,988,000,  an  inflation  of  45  per  cent.  The 
apparent  values  represented  25  per  cent.,  the 
mysterious  values  75  per  cent.  Accordinjo-  to  the 
census  of  t8oo,  {^4- 14, 000, 000  were  invested 
in  the  metallureical  industrv.  The  capital  has  in- 
creased recrularlv  bv  j6  per  cent.,  and  should  have 
been  600  million  dollars  in  1900.  The  trust  which 
onlv  represents  40  per  cf^nt.  of  the  total  capital  was 
formed  with  a  capital  of  more  than  100  per  cent, 
in  excess  of  the  total  capital  nominally  required  bv 
the  industry. 

People  form  wild  illusions  as  to  the  wealth  of  the 
trusts.  A  o-reat  part  of  their  capital  is  based  upon 
the  hope  of  sroodwill,  its  only  merit  bein^  in  the 
foresieht  or  the  expectations  of  capitalists.  It  is 
therefore  a  mistake  to  make  a  comparison  between 
the  capital  of  the  trusts  and  the  total  wealth  of  the 
LTnited  vStates. 

In  an  affidavit  made  in  the  summer  of  1902,  Mr. 
Schwab  estimated  at  11,000  million  dollars  the 
value  of  the  ores,  coal,  natural  gas  and  limestone 
belonging  to  the  Corporation.  What  is  the  value 
of  the  ore.  If  it  represents  the  whole  of  the  ore 
of  the  United  States,  it  is  enormous;  if  it  represents 
65  per  cent.,  as  is  suggested,  it  is  not  so  large;  and 
if  only  30  per  cent.,  It  is  still  less. 

In  spite  of  its  unprecedented  industrial  activity, 
the  capital  value  of  the  Sleel  Corporation  of  1,370 
million  dollars  had  fallen  in  1904  to  760  million. 

The  year  1906   was    an    exceptional  year  every- 


CARTELS  AND  TRUSTS  i8i 

where.  The  preferred  shares  issued  in  March  1902 
at  $92!,  fluctuated  between  102  and  117;  common 
stocli  issued  at  $42/3  fell  as  low  as  i;^;^'^  and  rose  as 
high  as  52^.  In  August,  1907,  there  was  a  hea\y 
decrease  in  orders.  'i'he  railways  always  need 
rails,  but  have  not  always  the  funds  to  pay  for  them. 
The  corporation's  enterprise  has,  therefore,  passed 
through  various  vicissitudes  and  is  likely  to  en- 
counter others.  On  September  30th,  1907,  the 
preferred  shares  stood  at  90^  and  the  common 
stock  at  27^. 

Is  such  a  concentration  necessarily  deducible  from 
economic  evolution  ?  Has  it  not  been  provoked 
and  hastened  by  the  intervention  of  the  State?  i\Ir. 
Hamevayer,  President  of  the  Sugar  Trust,  says 
frankly,  "  I  doubt  whether  we  could  venture  to  form 
the  trust  if  it  were  not  for  the  tariff.  The  tariff 
is  the  father  of  all  the  trusts."  And  Mr.  Carnegie 
exclaimed  in  an  enthusiastic  moment  of  sincerity, 
"  Protection  is  the  American  revenge  for  the  high- 
handed acts  of  the  Alabama.  We  ha\  e  had  thirty 
years  of  protection  at  30  per  cent.  Without  protec- 
tion we  could  do  nothing."  Mr.  Schwab,  at  that 
time  a  director  of  the  Steel  Corporation,  said  before 
the  Industrial  Commission:  "If  you  take  the  case 
of  rails  or  tinplate  and  the  highly  finished  articles  in 
which  labour  forms  a  very  important  element  of 
cost,  and  remove  the  tariff,  you  lose  the  trade  or  you 
reduce  your  labour."^ 

According  to  Mr.  David  Wells  in  1880,  the 
capital  employed  in  the  iron  and  steel  industry 
amounted  to  341  million  dollars.  From  1878  to 
1887  the  consumers  of  the  United  States  have  paid 
560  million  dollars  more  for  iron  and  steel  than 
they  would  have  paid  if  there  had  been  no  protec- 
tive tariff,  so  that  they  have  paid  60  per  cent,  more 
to  the  iron  and  steel  owners  than  the  amount  of 

1  United  States  Industrial  Commission,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  456.  See 
also  "The  Tariff  and  the  Trusts,"  by  Franklin  Pierre  (1907). 


i82  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

capital  employed  by  them.  Mr.  Byron  W.  Holt,  of 
Boston,  in  1902,  attributed  76  millions  out  of  the 
1 1 1  millions  of  protitsi  of  the  United  States  Steel 
Corporation  to  the  tariff.  Otherwise  they  would  not 
have  exceeded  35  millions,  of  which  the  requirement 
of  bond  holders,  after  the  conversion  of  200  millions 
of  preferred  shares  into  bonds,  would  have  absorbed 

25  millions.  There  would  thus  have  remained  only 
10  millions  to  pay  interest  upon  600  millions  of 
share  capital. 

Can  the  trusts  be  said  to  have  destroyed  competi- 
tion ?  Not  a  single  one  absorbs  the  whole  of  pro- 
duction. According  to  Mr.  J.  Moody,  of  the  92 
large  trusts,  78  absorb  50  per  cent,  and  more  of 
production,  50  absorb  60  per  cent,  and  more,  and 

26  absorb  80  per  cent,  and  more.  The  Standard 
Oil  Company  itself  only  controls  84  per  cent,  of 
the  home  and  90  per  cent,  of  the  foreign  consump- 
tion. The  United  States  Steel  Corporation  has 
not  destroyed  the  metallurgical  enterprises  of  the 
United  States,  far  from  it;  they  have  always  been 
on  the  increase.  Enterprises  which  are  not  bur- 
dened with  the  financial  dead  weight  which  the 
trusts  have  to  drag,  are  able  to  compete  with  them. 
At  the  beginning  of  1892  the  lead  trust  owned  all 
the  concerns  in  the  L'nited  States,  except  two.  In 
1894  tl^6  independent  concerns  produced  as  much 
lead  as  the  trust,  and  their  capital  was  two  million 
dollars  as  compared  with  the  thirty  millions  of  the 
trust. 

Competition  is  the  check  upon  the  trusts.  Mr. 
Chapman,  a  banker,  states  the  principle  of  their 
policy  as  being  that  "he  is  going  to  get  all  he  can, 
but  he  must  be  careful,  because  if  he  raises  the 
price  too  high,  in  comes  competition.  To  keep  out 
competition,  he  must  reduce  his  price,  and  keep  the 

1  For  the  details,   see   Yves   Guyot,    "rUiiited   States    Steel 
Corporation, "  Journal  des    Economistes,    November,   1902. 


CARTELS  AND  TRUSTS  183 

margin  between  cost  and  selling  price  just  as  low 
as  he  can."i 

It  is  freely  stated  that  a  trust  can  sell  at  a  loss  in 
order  to  ruin  a  competitor.  But  if  its  operations 
are  extended,  can  it  sell  at  a  loss  in  every  market 
in  order  to  annihilate  a  competitor  everywhere? 
Its  losses  would  be  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
its  business.  Not  only  do  the  trusts  fail  to  sup- 
press competition  on  the  market,  they  make  it  the 
motive  force  of  their  internal  economy.  When  Mr. 
Hadley  says  that  there  is  very  little  difference 
between  the  administration  of  trusts  and  of  public 
affairs,  he  makes  a  mistake  of  fact.  In  the  first 
place,  there  is  only  one  policy  in  the  trust,  to  in- 
crease business  in  order  to  increase  profits.  Now 
a  government  or  a  municipality  are  occupied  with 
other  aims.  There  are  the  political  interests  of  in- 
fluential supporters  to  satisfy,  as  well  as  party 
rivalries,  which  have  to  be  taken  into  account,  and 
which  frequently  force  an  administration,  however 
intelligent  it  may  be  or  however  good  its  intentions, 
to  take  precisely  the  opposite  course  to  that  which 
would  be  necessary  in  order  to  attain  its  object. 
This  is  a  fundamental  distinction.  And  no  State 
has  yet  succeeded  in  establishing  a  method  of  pro- 
motion in  its  services  which  entirely  ensures  the 
predominance  of  the  most  capable  and  excites  the 
emulation  of  all.  Trusts,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
organised  on  a  competitive  basis.  In  the  United 
States  Steel  Corporation,  each  of  the  concerns  is 
autonomous,  and  the  directors  are  frequently 
animated  by  a  spirit  of  particularism,  each  striving 
to  do  better  business  than  the  others.  If  they  have 
to  hand  over  particular  products  of  their  manufac- 
ture to  a  concern  belonging  to  the  same  trust,  so 
far  from  making  a  present  of  it,  they  insist  on 
selling  it  at  the  best  possible  price.  The  trust  is 
in  fact  a  federation  of  companies,  its  committee  of 

1  United  States  Industrial  Commission,  vol.  xiii.,  p.  107. 


i84  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

management  constituting  a  clearing  house  for  the 
mutual  exchange  of  information. 

There  is  thus  no  comparison  with  the  compressed 
and  centralised  administration  existing  in  a  govern- 
ment monopoly.  The  following  points  should  be 
noted : — 

(i).  The  trust  is  an  artificial  concentration,  re- 
sulting from  financial  combinations,  and 
only  rendered  possible,  in  almost  every 
case,  by  the  existence  of  a  protective  tariff. 

(2).  Substantial  firms  are  only  induced  to  come 
into  the  trusts  by  the  offer  of  excessive 
premiums. 

(3).  The  capitalisation  of  the  trusts,  which  is 
to  some  extent  artificial,  is  far  from  repre- 
senting the  proportion  of  the  wealth  of  the 
United  States  attributed  to  it  by  M.  Paul 
Lafargue. 

(4).  The  over-capitalisation  of  the  trusts  is 
limited  by  the  competition  of  the  market. 

(5).  The  price  of  their  products  is  limited  by 
the  prices  of  their  competitors,  for  no 
single  trust  has  acquired  a  complete 
monopoly. 

(6).  The  principle  upon  which  the  trusts  are 
organised  is  the  competition  of  their  com- 
ponent organisations. 

(7).  For  these  reasons  there  is  no  similarity 
between  trusts  and  State  or  municipal 
monopolies. 

I  have  only  examined  trusts  from  the  point  of 
view  of  Marx'  theory  of  the  concentration  of  capital. 
They  do  not  confirm  it. 

We  may  admit  the  existence  of  preferential  rates, 
such  as  those  obtained  by  the  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany from  the  railway  companies,  but  this  only 
proves  that  the  company  has  committed  acts  which 
can  be  successfully  attacked  by  a  legislation  of  an 
individualistic  and  not  a  communistic  type. 


BOOK     V 

THE     DISTRIBUTION     OF 
INDUSTRIES 


CHAPTER    I 

Marx'   Theory   and  the  Concentration  of 

Industries 
Karl  Marx  and  Engels  said,  in  the  "Communist 
Manifesto"  of  1847,  which  SociaHsts  acclaim  as  the 
beginning  of  a  new  era,  "the  whole  of  society 
increasingly  divides  itself  into  two  hostile  camps, 
into  two  directly  opposed  classes,  the  bourgeoisie 
and  the  proletariat." 

§18.  The  middle  classes  of  former  times,  small 
employers,  business  people,  aud  persons  of  independ- 
ent means,  artisans  and  peasants — all  fall  into  the 
ranks  of  the  proletariat.  Their  small  capital 
succumbs  when  brought  into  contact  with  the  gi'eat 
capitalists. 

§25.  Ihe  progress  of  industry  throws  considerable 
sections  of  the  dominant  class  into  the  ranks  of  the 
proletariat,  and  at  least  threatens  their  existence. 

§31.       The  modern  workman,  instead  of  raising 
himself  by  the  progress  of  industry,  sinks  more  and 
more  below  the  level  of  his  own  class. 
In   short,    industry  and  capital   become   increas- 
ingly   concentrated    in    a    few    hands,    while    the 
numbers    of    the    proletariat    continually    increase, 
wages  decrease,    and    the    hours    of    labour  grow 
longer.       The    last    assertion     has    already    been 
refuted ;    I    now   proceed   to   examine  whether  the 
phenomenon  of  the  concentration  of  industry  and 
of  capital  announced  by  the   "Communist   Mani- 
festo" manifests    itself    in    the    United    States,  in 
France  and  in  Belgium.     I  have  already  cited  the 
figures  for  Germany  given  by  Bernstein  according 
to  the  industrial  census  of  1895. 

If  three  establishments,  each  of  them  employing 
one  hundred  workmen,  only  form  one  establish- 
ment at  thf  expiration  of  ten  years,  we  have  a  con- 
centration, but  if  each  of  them  continues  to  exist 
and  to  employ  a  third  or  a  fourth  as  many  workmen 
again  while  doing  twice  the  amount  of  business, 
this  is  not  concentration  but  development  and  ex- 
pansion of  industry. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Distribution  of  Industries  in  the  United 

States 

i.  Difficulties  of  the  industrial  census — Manufactures 
and  hand  trades — Difficulty  of  comparison  with 
previous  census — Exclusion  of  undertakings  produc- 
ing less  than  $500. 

ii.  Distribution  of  industrial  establishments — Their 
numbers  from  1859  to  1900 — Number  of  existing 
establishments  in  1900  and  number  founded  in  1900 
— Classification  of  establishments  according  to 
ownership  by  individuals,  firms,  and  limited 
companies — Iron  and  steel  industries — Timber  trade 
— Leather — Paper  and  printing — Metallurgy  other 
than  the  iron  trade — Tobacco — Liquor  trade — 
Chemical  industries — Pottery  and  glass — Coach- 
makers  and  wheelwrights — The  hand  trades. 

iii.  Seventeen  industrial  classes  in  1850  and  in  1900 — 
Increase  in  number  of  establishments  in  twelve 
classes. 

iv.  Number  of  employees  and  workmen  per  undertak- 
ing— Classification  of  establishments  according  to 
number  of  wage-earners. 

V.  Edward  Atkinson — Tendency  towards  individualism 
Massachusetts — Individual  labour — Conclusion. 

1 

The  management  of  the  industrial  census  of  the 
United  States  was  entrusted  to  Mr.  S.  N.  D. 
North,  who  is  now  Director-General  of  the  Census, 
and  it  was  conducted  with  all  possible  care.  As  a 
man  who  is  convinced  that  the  professional  virtue 
of  the  statistician,  like  that  of  every  man  who 
devotes  himself  to  scientific  research,  consists  in 
the  ascertainment  of  the  truth,  he  loyally  points 
out  the  difficulties  and  uncertainties  presented  by 
his  labour  in  the  important  document  entitled, 
"Plan,  method  and  scope  of  the  twelfth  census  of 
manufactures."     (vol.  vii). 

In  former  efforts  the  definition  of  an  establish- 
ment was  left  to  the  discretion  of  each  agent  who 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     189 

contributed  to  the  census.  The  census  of  1900 
makes  a  distinction  between  Manufacturers  and 
Hand  Trades.  Mr.  North  sets  up  the  following 
criterion  by  which  to  distinguish  them — he  treats 
every  establishment  which  produces  uniform  types 
as  belonging  to  the  class  of  Manufacturers,  w'hile 
those  in  which  everv  object  has  a  special  character 
are  classed  as  Hand  Trades.  The  maker  of  ready- 
made  clothes  falls  within  the  class  of  manu- 
facturers, while  the  tailor  who  makes  clothes  to 
order  falls  within  that  of  individual  labour  or  hand 
trade.  The  same  distinction  is  made  between  the 
manufacturer  of  wheels,  axles  and  hoods,  and  the 
putting  them  together  in  small  shops  at  the  places 
where  thev  are  used,  according  to  the  convenience 
of  the  purchaser.  The  building  trades  are  included 
in  the  Hand  Trades  because  what  they  produce  is 
for  local  consumption  according  to  the  taste  of  the 
building-owner,  and  their  operations  are  distributed 
among  a  number  of  trades.  Dentists,  to  the 
number  of  3,214,  who  make  artificial  teeth,  had 
originally  been  classed  by  the  census  of  1900  with 
manufacturers,  but  they  protested  energetically 
that  their  occupation  was  not  mechanical  but 
personal,  and  thev  claimed  to  rank  among  the 
"professionals"  in  the  category  of  the  "liberal 
professions." 

The  relations  between  hand  trades,  shops  and 
workshops,  and  retail  shops  are  verv  close.  In 
1900  the  agents  of  the  census  were  instructed  to 
pav  no  attention  to  restaurants  and  caf(^s,  funeral 
undertakers,  retail  druggists,  butchers,  laundry- 
men,  carpet  beaters,  dentists,  tailors,  milliners, 
dressmakers,  hairdressers,  etc.  Some  of  the  agents 
conformed  to  their  instructions,  others  interpreted 
them  in  various  wavs,  so  that  if  the  number  of 
hand  trades  referred  to  in  the  census  is  uncertain, 
it  is  undoubtedly  very  much  below  the  actual 
number. 

It  is  not  known  how  they  are  dealt  with  in  earlier 


iQo  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

census.  Under  their  separate  classification  in  the 
census  of  iqoo,  they  are  taken  as  numbering 
215,800  establishments.  For  the  census  of  1840, 
1850,  i860  and  1870  the  agents  were  not  to  refer  to 
any  estabhshment  whose  total  profits  did  not 
exceed  $500.  In  1890  the  returns  which  deal  with 
smaller  incomes  than  this  are  disregarded,  but 
what  accuracy  does  this  limitation  carry  with  it? 
Fvery  small  trader  gives  the  figure  he  pleases, 
generally  a  smaller  one  than  that  of  his  actual 
income,  for  fear  of  the  revenue. 

In  1900,  127,419  industrial  establishments  out  of 
the  640,000  referred  to  in  the  census  lists  fell  below 
the  500  dollar  limit.  In  order  to  preserve  a  com- 
parison with  the  earlier  census,  they  are  dealt  with 
separately.  But  the  word  "establishment"  does 
not  represent  units  of  the  same  degree ;  a  factory 
employing  7,000  workmen  ranks  as  one  "establish- 
ment" as  well  as  a  workshop  employing  five. 

II 

The  distribution  of  industries  according  to  the 
census  of  1900,  is  as  follows:  — 

(a)  Hand   trades      215,814 

(b)  Establishments  with  a  profit  of  less  than 

$500  127,419 

(c)  Other  establishments    296,440 

(d)  State  establishments     138 

(e)  Educational  and  penitentiary  institutions  383 

Total  ...     640,094 

Leaving  out  of  account  classes  (b),  (d)  and  (e) 
the  figures  for  1850  to  1900  are  :  — 

Year.  Number.  Increase  per  cent. 

1850  123,025  — 

i860  140,433  14. 1 

1870  252,148  79.6 

1880  253,852  0.7 

1890       355»4i5       40-0 
1900       512,224       44.1 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     191 

But  it  is  obvious  that  the  number  of  small  estab- 
lishments under  the  500  dollar  limit  and  of  hand 
trades  is  less  than  it  is  in  fact,  and  that  the  difficulty 
and  expenses  of  including  them  in  the  census  will 
cause  them  to  be  eliminated,  a  measure  which  is 
formally  suggested  by  Mr.  North. 

In  his  analysis  of  the  census,  Mr.  North  says: 
"It  is  obviously  impossible  to  determine  from  the 
census  dates  how  the  actual  number  of  establish- 
ments engaged  in  productive  industrv  in  the 
United  States  has  been  affected  bv  the  consolida- 
tion of  industries  and  the  concentration  of 
employment  in  large  mills  and  factories." 
Undoubtedly  small  establishments  are  closed;  one 
sees  deserted  mills  on  the  river  banks.  Changes 
in  the  place  of  production  and  of  destination 
involve  disturbances  to  the  advantage  or  disadvan- 
tage of  particular  localities.  New  establishments 
spring  up  in  the  same  industry  every  day.  Many 
employers,  instead  of  renewing  their  old  establish- 
ments, put  up  entirelv  new  ones.  Nevertheless  the 
number  of  establishments,  in  fact,  increases  in 
every  one  of  the  States  of  the  Union. 

Table  XT.  gives  us  the  number  of  existing 
establishments  and  the  total  number  of  new  ones 
opened  in  iqoo  :  — 

Group.                                           Total  Xn.  Rstab!i?Ii-  Per- 

UXITED    STATES.                                 of  E^tah-  ments  opened  cen- 

lishments,  in  190''',  tage. 

512,254.  44,705  8.7. 

1.  Food  and  kindred  products  61,302         5.008         8.2 

2.  Textiles      30,048         2,451         8.2 

3.  Iron   and   steel   and   their 

products    - 13,896         1,103         7.9 

4.  Lumber  and  its  re-manu- 

factures        47,079         8,811       18.7 

5.  Leather    and    its    finished 

products      16,989  1,228  7.2 

6.  Paper  and   printing    26,747  1,742  6.5 

7.  Liquors  and  beverao^es  ...  7,867  627  8.0 

8.  Chemicals  and  allied  pro- 

ducts         5,444  459         8.4 


192  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

Group.                                        Total  No.  Establish-  Per- 

UNITF.D   STATES.                                 of  Estab-  meiits  opened  cen- 

lishments,  in  1900,  tage 

512,254.  44,705  8.7. 

9.     Clay,  glass  and  stone  pro- 
ducts         14,809         1,035         7.4 

10.  Metals  and  metal  products, 

other  than  iron  and  steel   16,305         1,098         6.7 

11.  Tobacco     15,246         1,460         9.6 

12.  Vehicles  for  land  transpor- 

tation          10,113  463  4.6 

13.  Shipbuilding     1,116  100  9.0 

14.  Miscellaneous  industries  ...   29,479  2,875  9.8 

15.  Hand  trades  215,814  16,185  7.5 

Mr.  North,  in  putting  forward  this  table,  further 
states  that  some  of  the  accents  of  the  census  did  not 
exercise  sufficient  care  in  the  collection  of  their 
information.  Nevertheless,  we  gather  that  the  ueiv 
enterprises  opened  in  iqoo  represent  8  or  g  per  cent. 
nf  the  total  existing'  enterprises,  and  that  there  is  an 
increase  without  exception  in  every  industry  as  ivell 
as  an  increase  in  every  State  of  the  Union. 

Table  XII.  gives  us  the  number  of  establishments 
and  their  output,  classified  according  to  the  nature 
of  their  ownership.  The  512,254  are  distributed 
as  follows  : — ■ 

Nature  of  Ownership.  Number.    Value  of 

outpvit   in 
Millions  of 
Drillara. 

Individuals    372,7or>  2,674 

Firms   96.715  2,565 

Limited  companies   40'74.^  7i733 

Co-operative  societies  &  others  2,093  30 

The  number  of  establishments  owned  by  indi- 
viduals represents  72.8  of  the  total,  i.e.,  nearly 
three-fourths;  of  this  number  183,500,  or  nearly 
one  half,  were  engaged  in  hand  trades.  Their 
output  repre.sents  20.6  per  cent,  of  the  total,  and 
the  average  output  of  each  establishment  is  $7,176. 
Firms  with  two  or  three  partners  represent  18.9  per 
cent,  of  the  total,  with  an  output  of  19.7  per  cent. 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     193 

These  two  forms  of  establishment  therefore  consti- 
tute 91.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  number,  with  an 
output  of  40.3  per  cent.  Co-operative  societies 
may  be  disregarded,  their  number  as  well  as  their 
output  being  insignificant. 

Limited  companies,  which  represent  8  per  cent, 
of  the  number  of  establishments,  produce  59.5  per 
cent,  of  the  output. 

The  four  great  industries  which  are  concerned 
with  foodstuffs,  textiles,  iron  and  steel,  and  lumber 
are  primarily  represented  bv  limited  companies. 
Nevertheless  in  the  cotton  trade  72,8  per  cent,  of 
the  establishments  are  owned  by  individuals  or 
private  firms:  in  the  silk  trade  27.3  per  cent,  are 
owned  by  individuals  and  31.9  bv  firms,  so  that 
only  40.8  per  cent,  are  owned  bv  companies; 
similarly  in  the  hosierv  and  lace  trade  38.3  per  cent, 
are  owned  by  individuals  and  27.4  per  cent,  by 
firms. 

In  the  iron  and  steel  industries,  onlv  4,843 
establishments  out  of  13,806,  or  34.9  per  cent., 
are  owned  bv  companies ;  but  thev  produce 
$1,508,493,000  or  84  per  cent,  of  the  total  output 
of  $1,793,490,000. 

In  the  timber  trade,  28,470  establishments  are 
owned  by  individuals,  13,906  bv  firms,  and  only 
4,675  by  companies,  the  value  of  the  output  of  the 
first  two  classes  being  521  million  dollars  and  that 
of  the  third  508,383  millions. 

Of  the  16,989  establishments  in  the  leather  trade, 
12,906  are  owned  by  individuals,  2,990  by  firms, 
and  1,091  by  companies.  The  output  of  the  latter 
is  $257,808,000,  that  of  the  firms  $208,571,000. 
The  census  does  not  state  the  output  of  the  estab- 
lishments owned  by  individuals. 

The  paper  and  printing  trades  comprise  26,747 
establishments,  of  which  16,332  are  owned  by 
individuals,  5,682  by  firms  and  only  4,490  by  com- 
panies.    The  output  of  the  first  two  classes  is  233 

N 


194  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

million  dollars  out  of  a  total  of  606  millions,  or  38 
per  cent. 

The  manufacture  of  wood  pulp  is  almost  entirely 
in  the  hands  of  companies;  it  is  otherwise  in  the 
case  of  printing  works  and  periodical  publications. 

The  liquor  trade  numbers  7,861  establishments, 
of  which  1,333  are  owned  by  companies,  with  an 
output  of  305  million  dollars,  or  81  per  cent,  of  a 
total  of  425  millions. 

The  number  of  establishments  in  the  chemical 
industries  includes  2,206  companies  out  of  a  total 
of  5,444,  with  an  output  of  450  million  dollars,  out 
of  a  total  of  553  millions. 

In  the  pottery  and  glass  trades,  the  small  estab- 
lishments predominate,  8,760  being  owned  by 
individuals,  3,800  by  firms  and  only  2,200  by 
companies,  out  of  a  total  of  14,800.  The  output 
of  the  companies  is  $157,336,000,  or  53  per  cent, 
of  the  total  output  of  $293,564,000. 

In  the  metal  trades,  other  than  iron  and  steel,  out 
of  16,300  establishments  there  are  10,060  owned  by 
individuals  and  4,167  by  firms.  The  census  does 
not  state  the  output  of  the  privately-owned  estab- 
lishments, but  the  companies  produce  578  million 
dollars  out  of  an  estimated  total  output  of  749 
millions. 

Of  15,520  establishments  dealing  with  tobacco, 
12,800  are  owned  by  individuals,  2,080  by  firms, 
and  358  by  companies,  producing  128  million 
dollars,  or  45  per  cent,  of  a  total  of  283  millions. 

Carriage  builders  and  wheelwrights,  including 
builders  of  railway  waggons,  number  10,113  estab- 
lishments, of  which  2,283  are  companies  producing 
$430,885,000  out  of  a  total  of  508  millions.  The 
astonishing  thing  is  not  that  these  2,283  companies 
have  an  output  of  84  per  cent,  of  the  total,  but  that 
there  should  still  be  more  than  7,000  establishments 
owned  by  individuals  or  by  firms.  Anyone 
possessed    by    the    idea    of    concentration    would 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     195 

imagine  that  there  was  only  one  waggon  builder, 
Pullman,  in  the  United  States.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  there  are  competitors. 

Shipbuilding  comprises  1,116  establishments,  of 
which  151  are  companies  with  an  output  in  iqoo 
of  $55o7i>ooo  out  of  a  total  of  $74,578,000. 

Of  the  miscellaneous  industries,  numbering 
29,479  establishments,  4,750  are  owned  by  com- 
panies with  an  output  of  641  million  dollars  out  of 
a  total  of  1.004  niillions. 

The  hand  trades  only  number  2,690  establish- 
ments owned  by  companies  out  of  a  total  of  215,800, 
with  an  output  of  $100,646,000  out  of  a  total  of 
$1,183,615,000,  but,  as  Air.  North  explains,  a  con- 
siderable number  of  these  establishments  are 
unknown,  so  that  their  output  is  still  more  decidedly 
an  unknown  quantity. 

Marx'  theory  of  concentration  premises  a  decrease 
in  the  number  of  establishments.  Now  out  of 
seventeen  classes  of  industry,  grouped  without 
reiining  upon  the  character  of  an  establishment  in 
1850  as  compared  with  1900,  we  tind  that  there  has 
been  a  decrease  in  only  five — agricultural  imple- 
ments, boots,  tobacco,  woollens  and  worsteds,  and, 
to  an  inconsiderable  degree,  cotton.  In  every  other 
instance  there  has  been  a  concurrent  increase  in  the 
number  of  establishments,  and  in  the  output  of 
each,  except  in  the  case  of  worsteds.  According  to 
Marx  and  his  followers,  all  industry  is  bound  to 
become  concentrated  in  a  small  number  of  estab- 
lishments. The  worsted  industry  presents  a 
phenomenon  of  a  precisely  opposite  character.  The 
number  of  establishments  increases,  but  the  number 
of  employees  per  establishment  decreases.  In  1850 
there  were  only  three,  each  with  a  capital  of  35  per 
cent,  more  than  the  capital  of  each  of  the  existing 
establishments,  and  a  staff  which  is  more  numerous 
by  60  per  cent. 


196 


SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 


Mr.  North  puts  forward  a  table  (p.  Ixxii.)  of 
sixteen  industries.  I  take  the  two  extreme  periods, 
1850  and  1900.     This  is  what  we  find. 


Z             !« 

0    td 

0  s 

0         X 

Groups. 

Q 

2 

OS 

< 

z 

X    X 

w   < 

P     »>     1 

"  3  2 
s  <  = 

0. 

< 

1- 
3    0 

^    H 

z.  < 

Du       z 

1900 

!0 

^ 

715 

220,571 

65 

141  549 

Agricultural  Implements... 

1850 

1333 

2,674 

5 

5  133 

r»                         J    OL                                                 V 

1900 

1,600 

63.622 

89 

-d) 

Boots  and  bhoes    ...          ...  j 

1850 

1,959 

21,947 

57 

-(1) 

> 

1900 

133 

334,205 

214 

362.349 

Rugs  and  Blankets            ...  % 

1850 

116 

33  215 

53 

46  574 

Cottons        < 

1900 

1,055 

442,882 

287 

321,517 

1850 

1,094 

68,100 

84 

56,553 

Glass           ...         ...          ...  • 

1900 

355 

173,025 

149 

159,267 

1850 

94 

36.195 

60 

49  380 

1900 

921 

88  882 

91 

103,673 

Embroideryand  Trimmings  ^ 

1850 

85 

6,409 

27 

12  095 

Iron  and  Steel        ...          ...  ^ 

1900 
1850 

668 
468 

858,371 
46.716 

333 
53 

1,203,545 
43  650 

1900 

1306 

133  214 

40 

156,231 

Tanned  Leather,  eto. 

1850 

6,686 

3  406 

4 

6,500 

T    *                             IV  J       1  *. 

19U0 

1.509 

275.205 

26 

157,236 

Liquors,  Malt          - 

1850 

'531 

9,449 

5 

13  291 

1900 

763 

219,538 

65 

166,876 

Paper  and  Wood-pulp     ...  • 

1850 

443 

16,390 

15 

22,996 

1 

1900 

1,116 

69,321 

42 

66,826 

Shipbuilding           ...          ...  - 

1850 

953 

5.638 

14 

17,773 

1900 

483 

167872 

135 

222,063 

Silk  and  Silk-stufFs            ...  ■ 

1850 

67 

10,124 

26 

27  007 

Slaughter  -  houses       and       ( 

1900 

1,134 

168  172 

61 

696,872 

Tinned  Food      ( 

1850 

185 

18  824 

18 

64,766 

1900 

437 

100  358 

67 

237,424 

Tobacco       j 

1850 

626 

15.167 

30 

34,857 

1900 

1,035 

120,180 

67 

114  425 

Woollens     ...          ...          ...  j 

1850 

1,559 

18,036 

25 

27,715 

1900 

186 

710,581 

306 

646,851 

Worsteds ■ 

1850 

3 

1  076,667 

793 

1,233,793 

1  No  figures. 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     197 

In  the  twelve  other  hidustrial  classes  we  see  the 
extent  of  the  establishments  growing  larger,  while 
their  capital  and  the  number  of  their  employees  in- 
creases as  well  as  their  output,  but  su  far  from 
establishments,  ivhich  existed  in  i8jO,  having 
monopolised  production,  they  have  stimulated  com- 
petition, since  we  find  a  greater  number  of 
establishments  in  1900  than  in  1850.  The  indus- 
tries which  employ  the  largest  number  of  workmen 
per  establishment  are  those  which  already  employed 
the  greatest  number  in  1850,  such  as  the  woollen 
trade,  the  metal  trade,  and  the  cotton  and  cloth 
factories. 

According  to  Table  XXXIV.  (p.  civ.)  the  total 
number  of  wage-earners  is  :  — 

Clerks 396,700     or     7  per  cent. 

Workmen     5,308,400     or  93  per  cent. 

5,705,100 

Dividing  this  total  by  640,000,  the  number  of 
establishments,  we  have  8.90  per  establishment. 
Deducting  the  127,000  establishments  with  an  out- 
put of  less  than  $500,  we  have  —^  =  1 1  work- 
men and  clerks  for  each  establishment. 

While  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  only  judge  bv 
appearances  the  whole  of  the  industries  of  the 
United  States  are  concentrated  in  a  few  gigantic 
establishments,  the  average  number  of  wage-earners 
—clerks  and  workmen— is  11  per  establishment, 
after  eliminating  the  quite  small  ones  and  including 
the  trusts. 

The  total  number  of  wage-earners — clerks  and 
\yorkmen — is  distributed  among  the  different  estab- 
lishments as  follows:  — 

No.   of    Wage-earners.  No.    of   Ehtablishments. 

o        1 10,510 

Less  than  5         232,726 

5  to  20       112,132 

21   ,,  50       32,408 


198  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

No.  of  \V"age-earneis,  No.  o£  EstabllBliments. 

5i    ,>    loo     11,663 

101    ,,   250     ^,494 

251   M  500     2,809 

501    ,,    1000  1,063 

Over     1000  443 

In  the  215,814  hand  trades,  68,800  employ  no 
hands;  106,000  employ  from  i  to  5 ;  32,000  employ 
from  5  to  20;  and  7,700  employ  more  than  20.  The 
latter  include  the  building  trade  and  its  allied 
trades.  In  the  manufacturing  industries  properly 
so  called,  there  were  41,700  establishments  out  of 
246,000  whose  owners  employed  no  workmen  at  all. 

Of  the  443  establishments  employing  more  than 
1,000  Avage-earners,  the  class  of  textile  industries 
contains  120,  of  which  the  one  with  the  greatest 
number  of  workmen  is  a  cotton-mill  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, employing  7,268. 

The  second  class  of  those  in  which  each  estab- 
lishment employs  the  greatest  number  of  workmen 
is  the  metal  trades,  in  which  103  employ  more  than 
1,000.  We  tind  one  in  Ohio  with  more  than  7,400; 
two  in  Pennsylvania,  which  includes  Pittsburg, 
with  more  than  5,800  and  4,537  respectively;  one 
in  Massachusetts  with  5,190,  and  another  in  Illinois 
with  5,1 19. 

If  we  add  to  these  establishments  employing  more 
than  1,000  workmen,  the  245  others  which  are  dis- 
tributed among  various  classes,  we  find  a  total  of 
468  employing  more  than  1,000  workmen.  There 
are  only  a  few  isolated  ones  which  exceed  7,000. 

III. 

So  few  arguments  in  favour  of  the  theory  of  the 
concentration  of  industries  can  be  drawn  from  the 
industrial  census  of  the  L^nited  States,  that  the 
lamented  Mr.  Edward  Atkinson  finds  in  it  a  ten- 
dency to  individualism, 1  a  result  at  which  he  arrived 

1  See  hi.s  "Facts  and  Figures,  the  Basis  of  Economic 
Science,"  1904. 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES     199 

by  supplementing  the  results  of  the  census  by  the 
industrial  census  of  the  State  of  Massachusetts.  This 
is  the  State  which  contains  the  greatest  number 
of  industrial  establishments  owned  by  limited  com- 
panies. It  also  contains  a  much  larger  proportion 
of  textile  establishments  than  the  other  States;  they 
are  438  in  number,  and  employ  on  an  average  322 
persons.  But  the  total  of  250  classes  of  industry 
in  Massachusetts  comprises  29,180  establishments, 
each  of  them  employing  on  an  average  17  persons, 
including  women  and  children. 

In  the  State  of  Pennsylvania,  which  includes  the 
Baldwin  locomotive  works  with  an  average  number 
of  18,000  workmen,  and  Pittsburg  with  its  blast 
furnaces  and  steel  works,  the  average  is  14.06;  in 
the  Slate  of  New  York  the  average  is  only  10.79, 
and  we  have  seen  that  for  the  whole  of  the  United 
States  it  is  10.50  for  workmen  and  1 1  for  workmen 
and  clerks  combined. 

And  yet  the  emigrants,  ordinary  workmen  who 
arrive  at  the  rate  of  a  million  per  annum,  present 
the  great  industries  with  a  supply  of  labour  ready  to 
hand;  and,  in  fact,  Mr.  Atkinson  pointed  out  that 
in  a  cotton  mill  in  Massachusetts,  with  which  he 
was  familiar,  the  2,000  operatives  of  either  sex 
belonged  to  sixteen  different  nationalities.  But 
had  they  taken  away  work  from  the  American  work- 
man ?  By  no  means,  for  the  daughters  of  the 
agricultural  labourers  who  had  previously  been 
employed  in  the  cotton  mills  select  occupations  of 
a  higher  order,  and  leave  the  mills  to  the  new- 
comers. They  have  risen  to  a  higher  sphere  in  the 
scale  of  occupations. 

Possibly  some  of  the  displaced  workmen  have 
opened  a  workshop  on  their  o\\  n  account,  for  what 
is  it  that  nearly  all  the  large  establishments  supply? 
They  supply  manufactured  products  which  have  to 
pass   through   a   workshop    before   they    reach    the 


200  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

consumer.  The  tanner  works,  not  for  the  public, 
but  for  the  shoemaker  and  the  saddler ;  the  cloth 
manufacturer  works  for  the  tailor  and  the  uphol- 
sterer. The  element  of  individual  labour,  which 
requires  men  and  women  with  an  awakened  spirit, 
an  observant  and  accurate  eye,  and  a  skilful  hand, 
will  not  cease  to  grow  in  proportion  as  the  tastes 
of  the  consumer  become  refined  and  his  purchasing 
power  increases. 

We  may  therefore  conclude  that : — 

(i).  The  industrial  census  of  the  United  States 
taken  in  1900  does  not  point  to  a  concen- 
tration of  industries.  If  the  capital,  the 
personnel  and  the  output  of  every  indus- 
trial establishment  is  greater  than  they 
were  in  the  previous  census,  this  is  due  to 
their  normal  development  and  not  to  the 
suppression  of  competition,  since  in  nearly 
every  branch  of  industry  the  number  of 
establishments  increases,  and  has  actually 
increased  in  each  of  the  states  of  the 
Union. 

(2).  The  census  by  no  means  indicates  the 
whole  of  the  share  taken  by  the  smaller  in- 
dustries in  the  economic  life  of  the  United 
States,  for  it  leaves  on  one  side  the  estab- 
lisliments  with  an  output  of  less  than  $500, 
and  the  information  with  regard  to  hand 
trades  is  incomplete. 

Despite  these  gaps,  which  tend  to  underrate  the 
apparent  importance  of  the  smaller  industries,  these 
industries  are  distributed  among  a  number  of  estab- 
lishments which  is  sufficientlv  considerable  to 
cause  the  whole  of  the  establishments,  large  and 
small,  taken  together,  to  employ  an  average  of  only 
eleven  wage-earners,  including  both  clerks  and 
workmen . 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES    201 

IV. 

Report  No.  57  of  the  American  census,  entitled 
"Census  of  Manufacturers,  1905,"  was  published  in 
1907.     It  deals  in  fact  with  the  year  1904.  Between 

1899  and  1904  there  was  an  astonishing  explosion 
of  activity  in  the  United  States.  This  is  the  period 
which  witnessed  the  genesis  of  the  great  trusts. 
Was  the  new  census  of  a  nature  calculated  to  in- 
validate the  foregoing  conclusions?  I  devoted 
myself  with  curiosity  to  an  examination  of  this 
question. 

To  begin  with,  I  gather  from  Table  No.  2  that  the 
number  of  establishments  rose  from  512,000  in  1900 
to  533,000  in  1905.  The  number,  instead  of  de- 
creasing, has  increased.  This  first  indication  is  not 
an  indication  of  concentration.  But  Mr.  S.  N.  D, 
North,    the   Director  of  the  Census,   explained   in 

1900  that  the  enumeration  of  small  establishments 
presented  considerable  difficulties.  In  1900  the 
agents  had  already  been  instructed  not  to  include 
butchers,  laundrymen,  tailors,  milliners,  dress- 
makers, hairdressers,  etc.,  while  undertakings 
whose  output  was  estimated  as  less  than  $500  were 
also  excluded.  I  foresaw  that  all  the  small  estab- 
lishments whose  inclusion  occupied  much  time  and 
was  onerous  and  not  easily  controlled,  would  be 
omitted,  and  although  the  figure  of  533,000  occurs 
in  the  census  of  1905,  it  really  concerns  itself  with 
only  216,000  undertakings.     (Table  i). 

Mr.  North  says  that  a  comparison  of  these  estab- 
lishments with  those  of  a  similar  nature  included  in 
the  census  of  1900,  yields  the  result  that  the  number 
of  207,500  in  1900  has  increased  to  216,200  in  1905, 
or  an  increase  of  4.2  per  cent. — a  fact  which  is  not 
in  accordance  with  the  alleged  phenomenon  of  con- 
centration. Table  IX.  gives  us  the  position  of  14 
classes  of  industrial  establishments  in  1900  and  in 
1905.  In  eight  classes  the  number  has  increased 
by  14,500. 


202  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

1900      1905 

1.  Food  and  kindred  products  41,000  45,800 

2.  Iron  and  steel i3>8oo  14,200 

3.  Paper  and  printing  26,000  30,800 

4.  Liquors    and    be\erages 5,700     6,40(j 

5.  Cliemicals       8,800     9,700 

6.  Metals  other  than  iron  and  steel  5,500     6,300 

7.  Tobacco  15,000  16,800 

8.  Miscellaneous        11,400  12,300 

Total 127,800  142,300 

In  six  classes  the  number  has  decreased  by  5,500. 

1900  1905 

1.  Textiles    17,600  17,000 

2.  Lumber,    etc 35>200  32,700 

3.  Leather  and  its  finished  products     5,300  4,900 

4.  Clay,  glass    and    stone    products   11,500  10,700 

5.  V^ehicles    for   land    transportation     8,700  7,300 

6.  Shipbuilding    i>i07  1,097 

Total 79>400  73,900 

This  shows  a  total  increase  of  9,000.  We  have 
included  shipbuilding  among  the  classes  in  which 
the  number  of  establishments  has  declined ;  the 
decrease  is  only  one  of  ten  units,  of  whose  size  we 
are  ignorant.  The  figures,  therefore,  show  that 
the  development  of  industry  in  the  United  States 
has  not  contracted  them  within  a  small  number  of 
establishments  from  1900  to  1905  any  more  than 
in  the  preceding  period.  I  may  add  that  Table 
XVI.,  dealing  with  textiles,  shows  a  larger  figure 
for  1905  than  for  1900,  the  manufactures  included 
being  cotton,  wool,  silk,  hosiery,  linen,  hemp,  and 
jute.  The  figures  are  4,312  in  1900  and  4,563  in 
1905.  Blast  furnaces  suffered  a  slight  decrease, 
from  668  to  605,  but  other  metallurgical  establish- 
ments increased  from  215  to  443. 

The  number  of  industrial  establishments  has  not 


INDUSTRIES  IN  UNITED  STATES    20- 


Cost  of  raw  material 
Various      expenses 


1905. 

605 

$936,327-000 

$905,800,000 

16,500 

$20,754,000 

242,300 

$141,400,000 

$620,146,000 

$47,160,000 


decreased,  so  that  the  phenomenon  of  the  concen- 
tration of  industries  has  not  manifested  itself  in  the 
United  States  in  the  period  from  1900  to  1905. 

V. 

The  metallurgical  industry  is  one  of  the  most 
highly  concentrated.  The  figures  for  blast  furnaces 
and  rolling  mills  are  as  follows: — 

1890. 
Number    of    estab- 
lishments      668 

Capital    $372,600,000 

Output    $431,000,000 

Number    of    clerks  3,800 

Clerks'  wages   $5,687,000 

Number  of  workmen  148,730 

Workmen's    wages       $78,977,000 

$295,777,000 
$16,918,000 

Now,  comparing  these  various  elements  in  1890 
and  in  1905,  we  find  that  capital  has  increased  125 
per  cent,  and  output  100  per  cent.  In  1890  output 
exceeded  capital  by  more  than  19  per  cent.,  in  1905 
it  was  3  per  cent.  less.  The  value  of  raw  material 
as  compared  with  output  has  remained  constant  at 
68  per  cent.  In  relation  to  the  total  output,  wages 
paid  to  workmen  were  18  per  cent,  in  1890  and  15 
per  cent,  in  1905.  The  number  of  workmen  has 
increased  by  63  per  cent,  and  the  amount  of  wages 
by  78  per  cent.  Compared  with  the  number  of 
workmen,  the  latter  figure  shows  an  increase  of  15 
per  cent. 

Taking  workmen  and  clerks  together  we  find 
that  their  wages  were  19  per  cent,  in  relation  to  out- 
put in  1890  and  17  per  cent,  in  1905.  Their  num- 
bers have  increased  bv  70  per  rent,  and  the  amount 
of  their  wages  by  93  per  cent. 

Despite  Mr.  Carnegie's  United  States  Steel  Cor- 
poration,   the    number    of    establishments  has  re- 


204  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

mained  much  about  the  same.  Its  promoters 
claimed  that  it  "controlled"  82  per  cent,  of  the 
metallurgical  output  of  the  United  States;  it  does 
not  at  present  represent  half. 

Conclusion, 

The  number  of  industrial  establishments  in  the 
United  States  has  not  decreased;  the  phenomenon 
of  the  concentration  of  industries,  according  to 
Karl  Marx'  formula,  has  not,  therefore,  manifested 
itself  in  that  country. 


CHAPTER    III 

The  Distribution  of  Industries  in  France 

Distribution  of  the  active  population— Heads  of  estab- 
lishments- -Distribution  of  industrial  establishments 
according  to  the  numbers  employed— Number  of 
workmen  per  establishment^Greater  industries  in 
France — Conclusion — Number  of  patents. 

I. 

1  have  already,  in  my  observations  upon  the  dis- 
tribution of  industries  in  the  United  States,  called 
attention  to  the  importance  to  be  attached  to  the 
method  of  counting  establishments.  The  statistical 
results  of  the  census  of  the  population  in  France^ 
in  1 90 1  confirm  them. 

The  census  of  March  24th,  1901,  indicates 
19,700,000  persons  as  following  some  occupation, 
that  is  50.7  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  of 
38,961,900.  In  1896  the  proportion  was  only  49.3 
per  cent.  The  figures  for  persons  of  the  male  sex 
is  12,911,000  or  65  per  cent,  in  1901,  as  compared 
with  67  per  cent,  in  1896;  and  for  females  the 
figure  is  6,805,000  or  35  per  cent.,  as  compared 
with  33  per  cent.  The  return  assumes  that  this 
difference  arises  from  the  fact  that  a  number  of 
census  papers  escaped  verification  in  the  census  of 
1896. 

Taking  the  total  figures  we  find  the  following 
result : — 

Heads  of  establishments 4,865,700 

Clerks  and  workmen   10,655,800 

Independent  workers   4,121,200 

The  heads  of  establishments  and  independent 
workers  would,  therefore,  number  8,996,900,  and 
represent  45  per  cent,  of  the  total.  But  the  figure 
of     10,655,800     clerks     and     workmen     comprises 

1  "Resultats  statistiques  du  R«oensement  de  la  population 
en    France"    (1901). 


2o6  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

persons  who  are  included  in  section  7  (liberal  pro- 
fessions) and  class  9a  (government,  departmental, 
and  commercial  services).  The  President  of  the 
Republic,  senators,  deputies,  prefects,  heads  of 
government  offices,  ambassadors,  magistrates,  etc., 
all  go  to  swell  the  number  of  clerks  and  workmen 
which  is  brought  into  contrast  with  the  number  of 
heads  of  establishments.  This  figure  includes  in- 
structors and  teachers,  some  of  w^hom  claim  to  be 
simple  wage-earners.  However,  their  number 
cannot  be  brought  into  relation  with  that  of  the 
heads  of  establishments,  because  their  relations  are 
entirelv  with  the  State. 

It  is,  therefore,  incorrect  to  say  that  of  100 
persons  who  followed  some  occupation  at  the  date 
of  the  census,  26  are  heads  of  establishments,  52 
clerks  or  workmen,  and  22  independent  workers. 
The  figure  for  the  learned  professions  includes 
400,000  persons.  The  number  of  independent 
workers  is  36.54  per  cent.  A  medical  man,  lawver 
or  artist  falls  within  this  categorv,  but  I  see  in  the 
table  dealing  with  the  staff  of  various  establish- 
ments, that  the  learned  professions  are  represented 
by  246,800  persons,  of  whom  44,500  are  heads  of 
establishments,  167,000  are  clerks,  and  35,000  are 
workmen.  These  figures  need  some  explanation. 
Now  T  find  (vol.  iv,  p.  124)  the  following  figures: — 

Learned   professions 309,800 

Government,     departmental     and 

municipal    services    1,297,500 

Total 1,697,300 

Deducting  these  1,697,300  individuals  from  the 
10,655,800  workmen  and  clerks  employed  in  agri- 
culture and  industrv  T  find  that  they  are  reduced  to 
8,958,500,  that  is  that  thev  are  38,600  less  numerous 
than  the  heads  of  establishments  and  independent 
workers.  The  proportion  is  destroyed,  and  instead 
of  being  in  the  minority,  they  form  the  majority. 


INDUSTRIES  IN  FRANCE  207 

If  we  deduct  from  the  400,000  individuals  belonging 
to  the  learned  professions  the  200,000  who  are 
classed  as  clerks  and  workmen,  we  have  a  total,  in 
round  numbers,  of  1,500,000,  and  we  shall  then 
have,  on  the  side  of  clerks  and  workmen,  9,155,000, 
and  on  the  side  of  heads  of  establishments  and 
independent  workers  9,158,000.  We  are,  there- 
fore, entitled  to  draw  the  conclusion  that  these  two 
large  classes  are  of  equal  size. 

II. 

The  table  on  page  xix.  (vol.  iv.)  gives  the  figure 
of  4,865,000  for  heads  of  establishments;  it  is  with 
this  figure  that  the  number  of  wage-earners  and 
employees  is  properly  to  be  compared  in  order  to 
bring  their  relative  numbers  into  account.  There 
are  not  as  many  establishments  as  there  are  heads 
of  establishments.  But  the  economist  and  the 
politician  require  the  exact  figures  for  the  two 
classes;  they  are  4.865,700  heads  of  establishments 
on  the  one  hand,  and  9,155,000  workmen  and  clerks 
on  the  other.  There  are,  therefore,  less  than  two 
workmen  and  clerks  to  one  head  of  an  establish- 
ment, the  percentage  being  65  of  the  latter  to  35  of 
the  former. 

In  1896,  2,983,000  establishments  were  put  down 
in  which  two  or  more  individuals  were  working- 
together.  In  T901.  this  figure  had  been  increased 
to  3,185,000.  This  would  point  to  the  opposite  of 
a  concentration  of  industries,  but  the  report  tells  us 
that  it  proceeds  from  "  new  conditions  of  verification 
which  permitted  of  the  enumeration  of  a  number  of 
family  establishments  which  were  not  registered  in 
1896."  Be  it  so.  The  report  adds:  "Leaving  on 
one  side  establishments  conducted  solely  by 
husband  and  wife,  or  by  partners  working  without 
assistance,  the  import  of  the  movement  is  reversed; 
the  figure  for  estalDlishments  employing  at  least  one 
workman  is  reduced  to  2,256,000  in  1901,  instead 
of  2,390,000  in   1896,  but  this  decrease  has  regard 


2o8  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

to  agricultural  establishments.  In  1896  a  large 
number  of  children  were  included  in  dealing  with 
these,  which  in  1901  were  excluded  from  the  census 
of  the  active  population.  In  the  industrial  sphere, 
on  the  contrary,  the  number  of  establishments  has 
increased."  But  in  the  table  on  p.  xix.  the  report 
disregards  all  such  establishments  as  employ  no 
outside  labour  at  all.  Now  in  the  table  on  p.  xvii., 
the  number  of  heads  of  establishments  has  in- 
creased in  agriculture  as  well  as  in  industry : — 

Heads    of    Establishmenta. 
1896  I9OI 

Agriculture 3,086,200     3,469,200 

Industry  715,000        813,110 

Trade 444,300        538,800 

Accordingly,  there  is  an  increase  in  each  of  the 
three  great  classes  in  the  number  of  heads  of  estab- 
lishments. This  is  a  phennmenon  of  diffusion  and 
not  of  concentration. 

The  small  establishments,  w^hich  usually  include 
only  the  members  of  a  household,  are  too  important 
a  factor  in  production  to  allow  of  a  clear  conception 
of  this  phenomenon  if  they  are  disregarded,  and  I 
call  attention  here,  as  in  the  case  of  the  American 
census,  to  the  tendency  on  the  part  of  public  sta- 
tistical departments  to  eliminate  them.  It  is  quite 
natural  that  they  should  do  so,  the  labour  involved 
being  too  great. 

The  table  on  page  xix.  only  contains  establish- 
ments which  employ  workmen.  It  shows  a  slight 
falling  off  in  the  number  of  agricultural  establish- 
ments. 

1896  1901 

Agriculture 1,484,000     1,340,000 

Industry  592,600        616,000 

Trade 233,000        249,000 

This  movement  is,  therefore,  the  opposite  of  a 
movement  towards  concentration.  The  Report 
states  that  573,000  establishments  employed  from 


INDUSTRIES  IN  FRANCE  209 

I  to  20  workmen  and  other  employees  in  1896,  while 
for  1901  the  figure  is  594,000;  the  number  of  those 
employing  from  21  to  100  has  risen  from  15,583  to 
I7>570,  and  the  number  of  large  establishments 
employing  more  than  100  w'orkmen  has  risen  by 
600,  having  risen  from  3,668  to  4,268.  Out  of 
100,000  establishments  there  were  more  than  619 
employing  more  than  100  workmen  in  1896,  and 
693  in  1901.  In  trade,  the  movement  is  the  same; 
the  number  of  small  businesses  has  increased  from 
231,000  to  246,000,  the  moderate  businesses  from 
1953  to  2279,  and  the  larger  ones  from  143  to  192. 
Out  of  100,000  which  employ  clerks,  61  employed 
more  than  100  in  1896  and  77  in  1901. 

If  the  number  of  small  establishments  had  de- 
creased, one  might  have  drawn  conclusions  in 
favour  of  the  phenomenon  of  the  concentration  of 
industries  in  accordance  with  Marx'  formula.  But 
from  the  time  that  the  number  of  small  establish- 
ments, as  well  as  of  the  greater  ones,  has  been 
ascertained  to  increase,  w^e  cannot  describe  the 
phenomenon  as  a  concentration,  but  must  give  it 
its  correct  description  of  a  development  of  indus- 
tries. 

If  we  now  enter  into  details,  we  find  the  following 
figures  (p.  131)  relating  to  agriculture: — 

Heads  of  Establishments. 
1896.  I9OI. 

Males  1.822,000  2,008,000 

Females      (unmarried)  134,000  125,000 
Independent  Workers  (ex- 
cluding   day    labourers)  1,249,000  1,096,000 

The  number  of  heads  of  establishments  has  in- 
creased, while  the  number  of  independent  workers 
has  decreased.  We  must  admit  that  a  number  of 
the  latter  class  have  passed  into  the  former.  This 
is  the  opposite  of  the  constant  absorption  of  the 
small  proprietors  by  the  proletariat  which  is  one  of 
the  articles  of  faith  of  scientific  socialism,  so-called. 

o 


210  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

III. 

Volume  iv.  (p.  191)  of  the  Statistical  results  of  the 
Census  of  1901  contains  the  figures  of  the  distribu- 
tion of  industrial  establishments  (exclusive  of  the 
carrying  trade).  These  figures  were  ascertained  in 
the  following  manner.  "The  effective  personnel 
of  establishments  employing  more  than  5,000  work- 
men was  determined  by  direct  returns.  In  other 
cases  the  number  of  workmen  returned  and  the 
estimated  numbers  do  not  correspond  exactly,  the 
former  being  3,606,000  and  the  latter  3,723,000; 
the  revised  total  is  3,526,800."  The  Report  con- 
tinues: "The  figures  could  not  be  expected  to 
correspond  exactly.  In  point  of  fact,  it  was  im- 
possible to  classify  3,000  industrial  establishments; 
these  are  undoubtedly  small  ones,  most  probably 
employing  altogether  no  more  than  15,000  work- 
men." The  first  assertion  appears  to  me  to  be  well 
founded,  the  second  is  not  based  upon  any  accurate 
data.  "Furthermore,"  the  Report  proceeds,  "the 
figures  for  industries  and  for  the  carrying  trade 
include  a  large  number  of  common  workmen  and 
journeymen  who  have  failed  to  disclose  the  estab- 
lishment which  employs  them,  a  proportion  of 
whom  are  no  doubt  at  work  in  some  industry."  It 
should  be  added  that  all  workmen  do  not  work  con- 
tinually in  the  same  establishment.  These  figures 
have  reference  to  continuallv  varying  phenomena, 
although  they  are  obliged,  from  the  nature  of  the 
case,  to  appear  constant. 

But  the  figure  of  3,526,000  wage-earners  is  lower 
by  506,000  than  the  figure  of  4,032,000  given  in  the 
table  on  p.  188,  in  which  the  figures  are  carried 
down  to  units.  The  table  is  preceded  by  a  note 
which  states  that  the  number  of  workmen  in  11,000 
establishments  is  unknown,  and  it  is  added  that  the 
number  of  workmen  in  establishments  employing 
more  than  10  has  only  been  obtained  by  a  process 


INDUSTRIES  IN  FRANCE  211 

of  deduction.       With  these  observations  I  subjoin 
the  table  on  p.  191. 

Number  of 
Establishments  Workmen  and  Clerks,  No.  per  cent 

Employing.  1896.  1901.  1896.    1901. 


.■> 


2 


o  to   10     ...     1,134,000         1,130,800     ...     36 
II    to   100  ...        853,000  999,100     ...     28     28 

over    100  ...      1,124,000         1,396,800     ...     36     40 

According  to  this  estimate,  60  per  cent,  of  the 
workmen  are  employed  in  the  small  or  moderate- 
sized  industries,  and  40  per  cent,  in  the  greater 
ones.  In  1896  the  percentage  was  only  36,  a 
difference  of  4  per  cent.  But  this  difference  is  in- 
significant, having  regard  to  the  uncertain  character 
presented  by  these  figures.  Even  if  it  were  strictly 
accurate,  or  even  greater,  the  fact  remains  that  in 
the  industrial  sphere  the  number  of  heads  of  estab- 
lishments is  813,000  in  1901,  as  against  715,000  in 
1896,     It  has,  therefore,  increased. 

IV. 

On  p.  187  we  find  a  table,  the  figures  in  which 
are  not  identical  with  those  supplied  to  the  commis- 
sion (pp.  xviii.  and  xix.) ;  I  take  those  in  the  table 
because  the  following  sentence  is  appended  to  it : 
"The  average  number  of  workmen  per  establish- 
ment has  increased,  and  this  is  a  primary  indica- 
tion of  the  concentration  of  the  staff  of  the  various 
establishments."     But  what  is  the  proportion? 

Percentaere 
Number   of  of  wage- 

EBtahlishments,  wage-earners.  earnerR. 

1896  1901  1896  IPoP  1896  IPOl 

Agriculture...  1,500,000  1,340  .SOO  3  283  600  2.918,400  2.3  2.2 
Industry    and 

carrvingtrade     603,200  620,800  3  788,400  4,308,400  6.3  6.9 

Trade 249,600  250,300  657,400  763,200  2.6  3.0 

Learned   pro- 
fessions...       36,600  43,900  161,100  202,364  4.4  4  6 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  percentages,  the  increase 
in  the  number  of  workmen,  the  primary  indication 
of  concentration,  averages  30  per  100  establish- 
ments (360 — 330).  The  maximum  increase  is  in  the 


212  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

class  of  industry  and  the  carrying  trade  (60  work- 
men per  100  establishments),  while  ag^riculture  and 
the  learned  professions  present  the  minimum 
figures  (10  and  20  per  cent,  respectively). 

On  page  185  the  occupations  are  sub-divided,  and 
the  figures  of  the  average  number  of  workmen  and 
clerks  per  establishment  employing  more  than  i 
emplovee  are  classified  as  follows  :— 

InduRtiy  No.  of  waee-earners  per 

Establishment 

Metallurgical  trades  (iron  and  steel)   689 

Mines  and  minerals    477 

Government  or  municipal   industrial  establishments  245 

Metallurgical  trades  (various  metals)  181 

Glass     works     140 

We  descend  almost  directly  below  100: — 

Paper    mills    66 

China  and  earthenware 55 

Paper  hangings  and  playing  cards    47 

Cotton    and    wool    factories     46 

Indiaruhher       41 

Alcohol    and    sugar    39 

Dveing,    bleaching,    etc 38 

Musical    instn;ments   (metal)      37 

Gas  lighting  and  petrol 34 

Chemicals,    explosives,    etc 19  to  25 

For  the  remaining  industries  the  figure  is  16  and 
under.  There  are,  therefore,  only  five  industrial 
sub-classes  with  more  than  100  workmen  per  estab- 
lishment. On  p.  186  there  is  a  list  of  industries 
showing  the  average  number  of  workmen  employed 
per  establishment  for  the  years  1896  and  1901.  It 
is  unfortunate  that  the  number  of  establishments 
is  not  stated  side  by  side  with  the  number  of 
workmen. 

1896        1901 

Coal  mines  857         953 

Tinplate    works    698         953 

Blast  furnaces  (first  process)       504         701 

Steel  works  510        687 

Iron  and  steel  shipbuilding      416        524 


INDUSTRIES  IN  FRANCE  213 

If  the  number  of  establishments  has  decreased 
between  the  two  census,  we  may  say  that  there  has 
been  a  concentration.  If  their  number  has  in- 
creased, there  has  been  a  development  of  industry. 

As  soon  as  we  pass  from  these  live  industries  we 
descend  to  a  number  of  workmen  less  than  500. 
We  find  18  with  more  than  200.  There  are  53  sub- 
classes in  all,  with  more  than  100  workmen.  Un- 
fortunately, again,  the  same  table  does  not  state 
the  number  of  establishments  represented  by  them. 
We  only  know,  from  the  next  table  (p.  187)  that 
the  number  of  industrial  establishments  with  more 
than    100  workmen  is  distributed  as  follows: — 

No.  of  No.  of  Proportion 

Workmen.  Establishments.  per  10,000. 

1896   I9OI       1896  I9OI 

loi  to  200  ...    2053  2375  35  39 

201     ,,     500       ...  II58       1342       19       22 

501    ,,    1000  ...  300  340     5  6 

rooi    ,,    2000  ...  107  147     2  2 

2001    ,,   5000  ...  35  46     —  — 

Over  5000     ...  13  18     —  — 

The  number  of  all  establishments  has,  therefore, 
increased,  which  is  evidence,  not  of  concentration, 
but  of  development  of  industry.  We  perceive  at 
the  same  time  how  insignificant  a  part  is  played 
by  the  larger  industries  in  France.  The  standard 
had  to  be  rai.sed  to  10,000  in  order  to  obtain  the 
units  for  comparison,  and  these  were  not  obtainable 
for  establishments  employing  more  than  2,000 
workmen. 

As  regards  small  establishments  with  not  more 
than  one  workman,  these  ought,  in  accordance  with 
Marx'  theory,  to  have  disappeared,  instead  of  which 
they  increased  from  290,800  to  318,300  or  from 
4,900  to  5,100  per  10,000.  This  demonstrates  a 
movement  precisely  contrary  to  that  of  prole- 
tarisation.  The  development  of  the  larger  indus- 
tries has    not    killed  the    spirit  of  enterprise  and 


214  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

initiative  of  the  workman  who  is  able  to  start  busi- 
ness on  his  own  account. 

In    trade   (as   opposed   to    manufacturing   indus- 
tries) we  find  the  same  phenomenon  : — 

No.  of  Employees. 


101 

to 

200 

20 1 

» > 

500 

501 

1 1 

1000 

1001 

» ' 

2000 

2001 

« 1 

5000 

Over 

5000 

A  table 

!  on   p 

No. 
Establish 

,  of 
iments. 

Proportiou 
per  10,000. 

1896 

I9OI 

1896    1901 

92 

122 

4      5 

36 

5 

54      • 
6 

2       2 

7 

4 

-1 
v3 

5       • 

—    — 

I 

197  shows  the  number  of  wage- 
earners  employed  in  the  different  classes  of  indus- 
tries properly  so-called,  with  the  fraction  of  this 
number  employed  in  the  smaller  establishments. 
The  table  only  contains  six  industrial  sub-classes 
in  which  the  workmen  employed  in  establishments 
with  a  staff  of  more  than  100  are  in  the  majority : — 

No.  of 
Wage-earners 
Employed   in 
Establishmenta 
employing 
Total  No.  of    more  than  lOO 
Industries.  Wage-earners,      (estimated). 

Mines  and  minerals   189,400       183,000 

Chemical    industries    101,900        53>ooo 

India  rubber  and  paper...       65,200         38,000 

Textile  industries   636,700      434'000 

Metallurgical  industries  ...       75»200         73.500 

China    and    glass   i44»5oo         78,000 

This  number  amounts  to  859,000  out  of  a  total 
of  1,317,000^  workmen  employed  in  establishments 
which  employ  more  than  100  workmen,  or  65  per 
cent.  We  see  to  how  small  a  number  of  classes 
the  greater  industries,  in  which  the  majority  of 
workmen  are  employed  in  establishments  with 
more  than   100  workmen,  are  limited. 

1  In  the  Table  on  p.  191  this  figure  is  given  as  1,396,000. 


INDUSTRIES  IX  FRANCE  215 

V. 

A  table  on  page  128  shows  the  relative  import- 
ance of  the  various  classes  comprising  the  indus- 
trial population,  per  10,000  heads  of  the  active 
population.  The  proportion  in  the  following 
industries  is : — 

Industries.  1896.  1901. 

Mines    and    minerals    245  273 

Chemical  industries  132  157 

India    rubber   and    paper...  92  loi 

Textile     industries    141 7  1277 

Metallurgical    industries    ...  88  108 

China  and  glass  229  230 

2,203      2,146 

These  establishments,  therefore,  representing  the 
admittedly  greater  industries  in  France,  only  in- 
clude one  fifth  of  the  wage-earners,  and  their  rela- 
tive importance  has  diminished  from  1896  to  190 1, 
because  there  has  been  a  decrease  in  the  textile 
industries.  But,  if  we  eliminate  the.se,  we  find  the 
figures  to  be  784  for  1896,  as  against  869  for  1901, 
so  that  the  number  employed  in  these  greater 
industries  has  only  increased  by  85  per  10,000, 
or  less  than  i  per  cent.,  counting  in  the  total  of 
industries  for  less  than  one  tenth,  viz.,  7.84  per 
cent. 

This  relative  importance  has  a  fictitious  as  well 
as  a  positive  side,  fictitious  because  the  development 
of  .some  of  these  industries,  having  been  called 
forth  by  protection,  is  artificial;  and  positive,  be- 
cause not  only  have  wants  in  general  continued  to 
develop,  but  because  the  metallurgical  industrv  has 
received  a  considerable  impetus  by  the  Gilchrist 
method  of  treating  ores,  and  the  rubber  industry 
by  the  development  of  the  motor  trade ;  and  under- 
takings of  these  classes  require  large  establishments 
and  a  numerous  staff. 


2i6  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

VI. 

All  the  statistical  results  of  the  census  of  1901  in 
France  point,  not  to  the  phenomenon  of  concentra- 
tion to  be  implied  from  a  decrease  in  the  number 
of  industrial  establishments,  but  to  the  phenomenon 
of  the  development  and  expansion  of  industry. 

These  results  are  confirmed  by  the  number  of 
patentees.  In  1822  there  were  955,000.  Despite  the 
calling  in  of  patents  by  which  legislation  has 
benefited  minor  patentees,  the  number  was 
1,660,000  in  1871,  1,862,000  in  1881,  2,005,000  in 
1891,  2,154,000  in  1 901,  and  2,253,000  in  1906. 
The  increase  is  gradual,  but  does  not  suffer  any 
recoil,  and  the  increase  is  not  attributable  to  any 
large  increase  of  population. 


CHAPTER    IV 

The  Distribution  of   Industries  in   Belgium 

i.  Definition  of  an  "enterprise" — ii.  Number  of  enter- 
prises and  number  of  employees — iii.  Large  and 
small  industries. 

I. 

i\lY  infoi"mation  as  regards  Belgium  is  drawn  from 
the  " Recensement  General  des  industries  et  des 
metiers  (analyse  des  volumes  iv.  et  v.)."  Mr.  L. 
March's  analysis  in  1902  before  the  French  Statis- 
tical Society  contains  the  following  introduction  : 
"The  principal  unit  for  the  purposes  of  the  Belgian 
census  is  the  industrial  "enterprise,"  but  the  defini- 
tion of  the  enterprise  is  slightly  different  from  that 
adopted  in  France  for  the  establishment  ("etablisse- 
ment" )  in  the  census  of  1906.  In  France,  the 
establishment  is  defined  as  a  group  of  individuals 
working  in  common  under  a  firm  name  and  at  a 
place  of  business  in  a  particular  locality.  An  estab- 
lishment may,  therefore,  comprise,  for  example, 
a  spinning  factory  and  weaving  mill  combined, 
under  the  direction  of  the  same  master,  in  the  same 
place.  The  compilers  of  the  Belgian  statistics 
treat  two  such  establishments  united  in  the  same 
building  or  in  continuous  buildings  as  a  multiplex 
or  complex  enterprise,  embracing  two  divisions  of 
enterprise  or  two  establishments.  If  an  industrial 
proprietor  owns  establishments  which  are  not  con- 
tiguous, in  different  parts  of  a  town  or  district, 
each  of  these  is  counted  as  a  separate  enterprise. 

II. 

In  October,  1896,  there  were  in  Belgium,  exclu- 
sive of  State  workshops,  326,089  enterprises  in 
active  work,  and  11,306  enterprises  (or  3.3  per 
cent.)  lying  idle.  The  326,089  enterprises  and 
divisions  of  enterprises  were  distributed  as 
follows : — 


2  18  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

(1)  231,420  or  70.97  per  cent,  worked  by  masters 
or  companies. 

(2)  94,334  or  28.93  per  cent,  consisting  of  home 
industries. 

(3)  335  or  0.10  per  cent,  consisting  of  "'installa- 
tions" rented  by  workmen  in  the  public  workshops. i 

The  population  engaged  in  trades  and  indus- 
tries numbers  1,102,000  individuals. 

Employers  manufacturing  in  their  own  factories 
number  232,500  ;  employers  who  send  out  work  to  be 
manufactured  number  5,400;  total,  237,900,  or  21 
per  cent.  Number  of  wage-earners  864,200,  or  79 
per  cent. 
Persons  in  receipt  of  wages  or  salaries  are  dis- 
tributed as  follows : — 

(a)  Directors,    managers,   engineers,    overseers, 

and  clerks     39,100 

(b)  Workmen  in  factories,   workshops,   mines, 

etc 671,607 

(c)  Workmen  at  work  in  their  own  homes    101,100 

(d)  Representatives     and     intermediaries     for 

home  industries    1 ,  300 

(e)  Members  of  the  families  of  persons  conduct- 

ing undertakings  who  act  as  workmen       50,600 

(f)  Workmen  at  work  in  public  workshops    ...  366 
The   enterprises  carried    on    by    individuals  or 

partnerships  number  324,000;  those  carried  on  by 
limited  companies  nimiber  2,000.  The  analysis 
of  the  census  sets  up  two  categories : — 

(i).  Industries  properly  so-called : — (a)  Enter- 
prises carried  on  by  individuals  or  by  actual  or 
nominal  partnerships,  229,400  or  99.13  per  cent.  ;  (b) 
Limited  or  co-operative  companies,  2,000  or  0.87  per 
cent. 

(ii).  Home  industries  or  industries  carried  on  in 
public  workshops,  individual  enterprises  or  co- 
operative partnerships,  94,600  or  99.99  per  cent.; 
co-operative  societies,  8  or  0.01  per  cent. 

1  This  is  tli^  imme  given  to  establishments  in  which  men, 
working  either  alone  or  with  the  members  of  their  families, 
or  with  paid  workmen,  are  able  to  hire  a  room,  and  generally 
motive-power  as  well. 


INDUSTRIES   IN   BELGIUM 


219 


In  the  two  categories  almost  the  whole  are  carried 
on  by  individuals  or  partnerships.  The  number  of 
limited  companies  is  1,854,  but  the}-  employ  278,200 
wage-earners  out  of  a  total  of  600,000^  or  41.90 
per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  workmen  employed 
in  industry  properly  so-called.  If  we  deduct  the 
coal-mining  industry,  in  which  nearly  all  the  work- 
men are  employed  by  limited  companies,  this 
number  falls  to  164,000  out  of  547,000.  The  min- 
ing industry  (underground  and  surface  mines 
combined)  includes  115,800  workmen,  of  whom 
97.48  per  cent,  are  employed  by  limited  companies. 

The  industries  in  which  enterprises  carried  on 
by  limited  companies  employ  between  75  and  100 
per  cent,  of  the  total  numbers  employed  are  as 
follows : — 


Numhf  r  of 
Workmen 

Flax-spinning    13,300 

Puddling  and  rolling    11,700 

Plate  glass     9,700 

Railway  material  8,200 

Cut  glass    7,800 

Railways  (working,  permanent  way 

and  other  works)  5, GOO 

Zinc    4,990 

Steel    4,400 

Light  railways,  tramways,  etc 2,700 

Coke  furnaces    T 2,300 

Gasworks    (including    services    con- 
nected with  disti'ibution)     2,100 

Then  there  follow  eight  industries  w-ith  less  than 
2,000  and  more  than  1,000  workmen,  two  with  more 
than  500  and  six  with  more  than  100. 

A  great  deal  is  said  of  Belgian  co-operative 
partnerships.  They  are  167  in  number  and  only 
employ  2,100  workmen,  of  whom  660  are  employed 


Percentage 

to  the 

tots! 

Number 

Employed. 

97.21 
93.37 
77.19 
93.92 
91.35 

99.68 
91.08 
94.58 
98.63 
98.09 

88.63 


1  This  figure  is  slightly  less  than  the  figure  given  above. 


220  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

in  baking  and  6ii  in  loading  and  unloading.     The 
latter  are  really  commercial  labour  partnerships. 

In  industry,  properly  so-called,  exclusive  of  home 
industries  and  of  industries  carried  on  in  the  public 
workshops,  160,400  out  of  231,420  enterprises  and 
divisions  of  enterprises,  i.e.,  69.32  per  cent,  or  more 
than  two-thirds,  belong  to  the  minor  industries. 
In  14,500  one  or  two  masters  or  heads  of  establish- 
ments work  without  the  assistance  of  any  workmen, 
members  of  their  family  or  otherwise.  In  17,800 
(7.71  per  cent.)  one  master  or  several  masters  in 
partnership  work  with  one  or  more  members  of  their 
families,  who  are  very  generally  children.  In  the 
whole  of  the  231,400  there  are  only  70,900  or  less 
than  one-third,  which  employ  at  least  one  workman 
properly  so-called. 

III. 

It  is  difficult  to  find  a  standard  for  the  minor 
industries  which  is  suitable  to  all  branches  of 
manufacture.  A  flour  mill  employing  7  or  8  work- 
men does  not  fall  within  the  minor  industries,  while 
a  weaving  establishment  which  only  employs  ten 
workmen  does. 

The  directors  of  the  Belgian  census  take  as  their 
empirical  standard  the  figure  of  four  workmen  and 
less;  55,000  enterprises  (or  23.76  per  cent.)  or  one- 
fourth  of  the  total  number  of  those  employing  at 
least  one  workman  fall  within  this  standard.  They 
represent  a  total  of  96,000  workmen,  or  an  average 
of  less  than  two  for  each  enterprise  or  division  of 
an  enterprise.  The  tailors,  dressmakers,  shoe- 
makers, joiners,  carpenters,  bakers,  farriers, 
locksmiths,  masons,  painters,  wheelwrights,  slaters, 
plumbers,  seamstresses,  milliners,  etc.,  are  all 
included  in  the  minor  industries,  and  a  large  pro- 
portion even  in  quite  the  smallest  industries. 

In  Belgium,  moderate-sized  industries  are  taken 
as  including  establishments  employing  from  5  to 
49  workmen;  their  number  is  13,380,  or  6  per  cent. 


INDUSTRIES  IN  BELGIUM  221 

of  the  whole,  and  they  are  represented  bv  173,000 
workmen,  or  26  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of 
workmen.  These  industries  include  the  businesses 
of  masons,  breweries  and  maltsters,  builders,  car- 
penters and  joiners,  ladies'  clothinq-  manufacturers, 
quarries,  foundries,  metal  workers,  etc. 

The  larger  industries,  employing  from  50  to  499 
workmen,  include  2,000  establishments,  repre- 
sented bv  a  working  population  of  295,000,  or  146 
workmen  per  enterprise  or  division  of  an  enterprise. 
Of  a  total  of  664,000  workmen  engaged  in  industry 
properly  so  called,  there  are  therefore  295,000,  or 
44  per  cent,  emploved  in  these  greater  industries. 
In  the  coal  mining  industrv,  out  of  115,800  work- 
men, there  are  86,000  who  form  part  of  this  group  of 
larger  industries.  Deducting  these,  we  find  209,000 
workmen,  representing  142  per  enterprise  and  38.78 
per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  workmen.  These 
large  enterprises  include  the  same  kind  of  industries 
as  are  found  in  the  United  States  and  in  France — 
the  metal  trades  and  constitutional  metal  works  and 
spinning  factories.  Of  100  workmen,  44  are 
employed  in  the  larger,  and  15  in  the  largest, 
industries — a  total  of  59  per  cent. 

Bv  a  computation  uniting  the  complex  enterprises 
the  Report  arrives  (p.  23)  at  the  following  result  :  — 

Actual  Number  of  Actual  Nuinber  of 

Enterprises  Workmen. 

Smallest  and  minor  industries 

(0  to  4  workmen)  211,700     92,000 

instead  of  215,400     instead  of  915,000 
Moderate  industries 

(15  to  49  workmen)  '13,800    162,000 

instead  of  13,800  instead  of  172,000 
Large  industries  (50  to 

499    workmen)  1,456     250,000 

instead  of  2,000  instead  of295,000 
Largest  industries  (500 

workmen  and  over)     184     160,000 

instead  of  133  instead  of  100,000 

This  would  give  24  per  cent.,  or  a  quarter  of  the 


222  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

total  number  of  workmen  employed  in  the  largest 
industries.  This  is  in  accordance  with  the 
character  of  Belgian  industries — mines,  construc- 
tional metal  works,  spinning  factories  and  weaving 

mills. 

This  population  is  classified  as  follows  : — 

Heads  of  establisliments     232,500 

Managers  and  clerks    37,800 

Members   of   the    families  of  the  heads  of 

establishments       34,400 

Home  industries  87,200 

Public  workshops     330 

392,230 

Workmen  employed  in  industries  proper...      664,000 
Workmen  employed  in  home  industries    ...        14,000 

678,000 

I  have  included  managers,  over.seers  and  clerks 
in  the  same  class  with  the  heads  of  establishments, 
because  the  workmen  look  upon  them  as  having 
interests  distinct  from  their  own. 

We  therefore  have  on  the  one  hand  71  per  cent, 
of  wage-earners  as  against  29  per  cent,  of  heads  of 
establishments  and  clerks;  that  is  rather  less  than 
three  wage-earners  for  one  head  of  an  establishment. 
The  smallest  industries  are  represented  by  70  per 
cent,  and  the  minor  industries  (4  workmen  and  less) 
by  2.^,  per  cent.  To  this  must  be  added  the  home 
industries.  The  greater  industries  have  therefore 
not  stifled  the  smaller  ones  in  Belgium  any  more 
than  in  the  United  States  and  in  France.  The 
facts  do  not  confirm  the  theory  of  the  concentra- 
tion of  industries  put  forward  by  Karl  Marx  in  any 
of  these  three  countries. 

I  suggested  at  the  sitting  of  the  International 
Statistical  Institute,  held  at  Copenhagen  in 
August,  1907,  that  the  word  "concentration"  ought 


INDUSTRIES   IN   BELGIUM  22 


o 


not  to  be  employed  in  the  language  of  statistics 
except  for  the  purpose  of  denoting  an  absolute  and 
a  relative  decrease  in  the  number  of  agricultural, 
industrial,  c(jmmercial,  financial  establishments, 
C(jrrelative  with  an  increase  in  the  total  activity  of 
the  category  into  which  they  fall.  This  suggestion 
was  referred  to  the  Committee  which  was  appointed 
at  this  Congress  for  the  purpose  of  dealing  with 
statistical  terminology. 


BOOK     VI 

THE     INCONSISTENCIES     OF 
SCIENTIFIC     SOCIALISM 


CHAPTER  I 

"  Scientific  "   Prophecies 

"Natural  necessity"  acording  to  Marx  and  Engels — 
Natural  necessity  belied  by  facts — Fatalist  theories 
— Werner  Sombart :  his  doubts— Marxist  interfer- 
ence with  "natural  necessity" — Social  legislation 
tends  to  retard  it. 

Marx  and  Engels  set  themselves  up  as  scientific 
prophets.  Beyond  Ricardo's  a  priori  formula, 
they  felt  the  most  profound  distrust  of  the  natural 
laws  of  exchange  as  put  forvvard  by  economists. 
But  they  affirmed  the  existence  of  "natural  neces- 
sity," by  introducing  the  notion  of  which  to 
socialistic  thought  they  claimed  to  have  effected  a 
great  revolution.  They  claimed  to  have  traced,  in 
the  "Communist  Manifesto,"  the  process  which 
was  fated  to  end  in  communism. 

Economic  development  realises  itself  in  a  parti- 
cular manner  and  it  is  precisely  because  it  does  so 
that  all  the  items  with  which  the  programme  is 
concerned  attain  their  fulfilment.  Accordingly 
there  is  no  escape  for  you  members  of  the  middle 
classes  and  capitalists,  and  for  you  workmen  and 
wage-earners;  your  triumph  is  assured,  for  every- 
thing will  come  to  pass  just  as  we  have  foretold. 
Karl  Marx  is  God,  and  Engels  is  his  prophet ! 

Three  and  twenty  centuries  have  elapsed  since 
Thucydides  defined  the  function  of  history  as  being 
to  ascertain  the  truth  as  regards  the  past  in  order 
to  foresee  the  future.  But  to  ascertain  the  truth  is 
essential,  and  he  who  fails  to  do  so  and  invents 
facts  instead  of  observing  them  misleads  himself 
in  his  forecasts  as  well  as  others.  In  "Das  Kapital" 
Karl  Marx  says  :  "Reflection  on  the  forms  of  social 
life  and  consequently  the  scientific  analysis  of 
them,  follows  a  course  which  is  completelv  opposed 
to  their  true  movement,"  or,  in  other  words,  the 
present  explains  the  past,  but  does  not  explain  the 


228  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

future.  Consequently  the  true  disciple  of  Marx 
should  cut  all  the  part  of  the  "Communistic  Mani- 
festo" which  deals  with  the  future,  and  examine 
only  the  historical  movement. 

The  whole  of  Marx'  "  natural  necessity  "  is 
founded  upon  the  pauperisation  of  the  greatest 
number  and  the  concentration  of  capital  and  of 
industry  in  the  hands  of  an  increasingly  restricted 
number  of  persons.  Now,  as  this  phenomenon 
fails  to  take  place,  "natural  necessity"  does  not 
exist.  If  Marx  and  Engels  had  been  logical,  they 
would  have  ended  in  fatalism.  In  the  absence  of 
the  necessity  on  the  part  of  their  followers  of  action 
of  anv  kind,  they  have  only  to  watch  economic 
forces  at  work,  bringing  into  play  on  the  one  hand 
the  concentration  of  capital,  and  on  the  other  the 
formation  of  the  proletariat  masses.  If  the  need 
for  communism  is  natural,  one  has  only  to  wait 
until  it  comes  forward  of  itself  and  there  is  no  occa- 
sion for  traumatic  intervention  which  would  only 
disturb  its  development.  It  is  better  to  leave  it  to 
overcome  the  crisis  of  its  growth  undisturbed. 

Werner  Sombart  states  that  the  followers  of 
Marx  are  in  fact  convinced  that  this  natural  pro- 
cess fulfils  itself  independently  of  human  activity. 
It  is  best  therefore  to  leave  it  to  itself.  This  is  both 
logical  and  inoffensive.  Yet  he  admits  that 
"natural  necessity  (Naturnothwendigkeit)  rests 
upon  a  series  of  ideas  which  are  not  entirely  clear." 
And  he  has  his  doubts.  "There  does  not,"  he 
says,  "appear  in  the  writings  of  Marx  and  of  Engels 
any  evidence  of  the  progress  of  the  social  move- 
ment corresponding  to  a  scientific  method." 

Marx  savs  that  in  the  past  all  social  movements 
have  been  brought  about  by  minorities,  but  that 
"the  proletariat  movement  is  the  spontaneous 
movement  of  the  immense  majority  in  the  interest 
of  the  immense  majority."  Still,  it  is  necessary 
that  this  immense  majority,  the  outcome  of  "natural 
necessity"    should    exist,   and   the  failure  of  this 


"SCIENTIFIC"  PROPHECIES  229 

natural  necessity  is  proved  by  industrial  returns. 
If  the  facts  upon  which  this  process  is  based  are 
incorrect,  surely  the  process  will  fail  to  develop 
itself.  And  how  can  Socialists  who  claim  to  be 
scientific  invoke  its  aid  when  experience  demon- 
strates it  to  be  based  on  a  fallacy  ?  If  the  followers 
of  Marx  really  believed  in  "natural  necessity,"  they 
would  leave  economic  society  to  evoh-e  itself  with- 
out interference.  The  law  of  the  concentration  of 
capital  by  surplus  labour,  being  a  natural  necessity 
and  bound  to  end  in  the  triumph  of  the  proletariat 
through  the  agency  of  communism,  Marx's  fol- 
lowers ought  not  to  attempt  to  delay  the  com- 
munistic millennium. 

And  yet  they  ask  for  labour  legislation  in  the 
programmes  of  the  Gotha  Congress  (1875),  the 
Erfurt  Congress  (1891),  and  even  in  the  programme 
of  the  Havre  Congress  (1880),  which  was  drafted 
by  Marx  himself.  Furthermore,  in  the  great  work 
in  which  he  sets  forth  his  doctrine,  he  has  acclaimed 
the  Factory  Act  of  1850  as  a  "great  charter,"  im- 
measurably superior  to  the  "pompous  catalogue  of 
the  Rights  of  Man."^  This  was  an  inconsistency, 
for  if  the  Factory  Act  has  the  effect  of  diminishing 
the  amount  of  "surplus-value,"  it  retards  the 
"natural  necessity"  of  the  advent  of  communism. 

Every  form  of  intervention  proposed  or  approved 
by  the  Socialists,  with  the  object  of  ameliorating 
the  condition  of  the  workmen,  is  an  obstacle  placed 
in  the  way  of  Marx'  prophecies.  When  the  bour- 
geoisie, imbued  with  the  idea  of  paternal  state 
control,  attempt  to  give  "satisfaction  to  the 
workers,"  repeat  that  "something  ought  to  be 
done,"  and  attempt  to  prevent  the  social  revolution 
by  petty  police  measures,  they  are  quite  logical. 
But  when  Karl  Marx  counsels  such  measures  and 
extols  the  Factory  Acts,  is  he  not  deserving  of  the 
epithet  of  a  "smooth  talker"  applied  by  sceptical 

1  Das  Knpital,  vol.   i.,  chap.  x. 


230  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

workmen  to  those  who  adopt  this  policy,  as  advo- 
cated by  Le  Play  and  his  school?  If  the  Factory 
Acts  have  had  the  beneficial  results  which  Karl 
Marx  so  enthusiastically  extols,  how  comes  he  to 
predict  that  England  will  be  the  first  country  to 
witness  the  advent  of  communism  ? 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Prophets  of  "  Catastrophes  " 

The  catastrophe  in  England— The  Labour  Party  fail  to 
understand  the  class  war-  -Equivocation  at  the  Stutt- 
gart Congress— Bebel's  "grand  symphony" — Marx' 
and  Engels'  visions  of  catastrophe— Engels'  prophecy 
for  1898— 'The  inherent  principles  of  Marxism" 
and  M.  Georges  Sorel— The  myths— The  final 
Socialist  judgment  and  the  Christian  millennium. 

Karl  Marx  and  Engels  and  their  followers  prove 
that,  while  invoking  "natural  necessity"  they  all 
foresee  a  tempestuous  social  revolution,  the  end  of 
the  capitalist  world  blazing  forth  in  a  general  con- 
flagration amid  thunder  and  lightning. 

In  the  preface  to  the  edition  of  "Das  Kapital" 
published  in  1867,  Karl  Marx  says  that  the  pro- 
gress of  the  social  upheaval  is  visible  in  England 
to  all  eyes.  And  in  1875,  despite  the  experience  of 
the  Commune,  he  says  in  a  note  at  the  end  of  the 
French  edition  that  England  will  be  the  centre  of 
the  explosion.  Yet  all  the  official  Continental 
Socialists  unite  in  declaring  that  the  English  do 
not     understand     the     class     war,     and     persist 


PROPHETS  OF  "CATASTROPHES"  231 

in  spite  of  the  fact  that  five  and  twenty  members 
of  trade  unions,  attached  to  the  Labour  Party, 
only  gained  admission  to  the  Stuttgart  Congress  by 
equivocating.  The  Enghsh  workmen  remind 
themselves  that  if  some  of  their  interests  are 
opposed  to  those  of  their  employers,  there  are  others 
more  numerous  which  they  have  in  common.  M. 
Vandervelde  said  that  every  time  the  workmen  fight 
for  higher  wages,  they  apply  the  principle  of  the 
class  war,  and  it  was  decided  not  to  exclude 
these  refractory  recruits .^ 

It  is  twenty  years  since  Wolmar  rallied  Bebel 
upon  his  predictions  of  a  great  European  w^ar,  at  the 
end  of  which  the  nations,  disgusted  at  the  butchery 
and  ruined  by  universal  bankruptcy,  would  take 
their  destinies  in  their  hands,  and  "in  this  grand 
symphony,  the  social  democracy  would  play  the 
first  violin." 

"vSince  1845,"  says  Werner  Sombarl,  "  Marx 
and  Engels  have  unceasingly  dreamed  of  revolu- 
tions, of  real  revolutions  rising  to  fever  heat,  and 
have  predicted  their  approaching  explosion.  This 
can  only  follow  from  an  analysis  of  the  situation 
which  is  wanting  in  realism,  and  from  an  erroneous 
appreciation  of  political,  economic  and  social 
forces."  These  words  were  written  in  1886,  and  in 
a  letter  to  Paul  Laf argue,  dated  in  1892,  Engels 
fixed  1898  as  the  time  when  the  Socialist  party 
w-ould  possess  itself  of  power  in  Germany. 

Karl  Marx  and  Engels  have  therefore  always 
been  in  contradiction  with  their  own  assertion  of 
"natural  necessity,"  at  one  time  by  requiring  the 
State  to  set  obstacles  in  its  way  by  means  of  labour 
legislation,  at  another  by  dreaming  of  insurrections, 
revolutions  and  dramatic  catastrophes.  Their  fol- 
lowers continue  to  entertain  the  same  chima^ras, 
some  as  a  means  of  attracting  recruits  and  of  intimi- 
dating their  opponents,  others  with  the  artlessness 

ISocialiet  Congrese,  Stuttgart,  August  20th,   1907. 


232  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

of  believers  in  a  millennium.  M.  Gabriel  Deville 
appeals  to  "all  the  resources  which  science  places 
within  the  reach  of  those  who  have  something  to 
destroy."  M.  Jules  Guesde,  only  the  other  day 
at  the  Nancy  Congress,  "placed  the  gun  to  his 
cheek,"  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  this  attitude 
is  out  of  date. 

M.  Georges  Sorel,  a  retired  chief  engineer  of  the 
department  of  Roads  and  Bridges,  who  has  found 
interest  in  employing  his  leisure  with  a  systematic 
and  conscientious  study  of  Socialism  in  general 
and  of  Marxism  in  particular,  has  discovered  in  the 
course  of  his  researches  that  Marx  himself,  and 
d  fortiori  those  who  make  use  of  his  name,  are 
guilty  of  a  number  of  heresies,  with  which  he  con- 
tends by  the  aid  of  the  "inherent  principles"  of 
Marxism.  He  proposes  to  treat  the  theories  which 
the  doctrinal  Socialists  refuse  to  admit,  and  the 
militant  Socialists  regard  as  axiomatic,  as  myths 
removed  outside  all  controversy.  What  a  fall  is 
here  !     Scientific  Socialism  ending  in  folk-lore  ! 

Karl  Marx  is  nothing  but  an  inventor  and 
manufacturer  of  myths  with  which  he  abuses  the 
credulity  of  his  followers,  but  M.  Georges  Sorel 
adds  that  the  doctrine  of  the  end  of  the  world  had 
had  so  great  an  influence  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  Christian  propaganda  that  it  ought  to  be  care- 
fully preserved  as  the  final  doctrine  of  the 
Socialistic  Day  of  Judgment.  M.  Faubert  once 
asked  him  whether  the  doctrine  of  the  end  of  the 
world  did  not  have  the  force  of  a  deception,  to 
which  M.  Sorel  replied  that  the  promises  of  a 
Christian  millennium  have  never  been  realised, 
and  Christianity  has  always  preserved  many 
faithful  followers. 


CHAPTER    III 

Admissions  of  the  Apostles 

Pretensions  of  Marx  and  Engels — -Werner  Sombart's  dis- 
appointments— The  three  socialisms :  hermetic, 
esoteric  and  exoteric — Antitheses  and  metaphors- 
Karl  Marx  and  Proudhon — Ricardo's  parrot-cry — 
Interpreters  of  the  Marxian  Bible — Condemnation  of 
Socialism  as  a  science  by  Charles  Andler  and  Sorel. 

The  Socialists  of  the  end  of  the  nineteenth  century 
thought  to  enshrine  international  Socialism  in  the 
German  chapel  of  Karl  Marx  and  Engels.  Jules 
Guesde  had  imported  it  into  France  a  few  years 
after  the  war,  at  a  time  when,  with  the  feelings  of 
humility  of  the  vanquished,  we  were  completing 
the  invasion  of  1870  by  apologies  for  German 
military  organisation,  German  education,  German 
literature,  German  beer  and  German  sausages.  In 
their  "Communist  Manifesto"  of  1847  Marx  and 
Engels  had  modestly  decorated  their  Socialism 
with  the  epithet  "true."  This  document  was  the 
Gospel  to  which  every  Socialistic  aspirant  had  to 
make  a  confession  of  faith. 

The  influence  of  Karl  Marx,  like  that  of  all 
prophets,  is  due  not  so  much  to  what  he  says,  as 
to  what  he  promises  to  say.  If  one  permitted 
oneself  to  make  certain  objections  to  the  first 
volume  of  "Das  Kapital,"  which  appeared  in  1867, 
his  faithful  disciples  would  make  a  confession  of 
faith  to  the  second  volume,  which  was  not  to 
appear  until  1885,  two  years  after  his  death.  If 
one  still  ventured  to  contest  some  of  Marx'  rough 
generalisations,  they  would  refer  you  to  the  third 
volume,  which  did  not  appear  until  1895.  These 
two  volumes  were  published  under  the  care  of 
P^ngels,  who  recognises,  particularly  with  regard 
to  the  third  volume,  that  he  had  only  a  very  rough 
outline  to  deal  with.  This  question,  therefore, 
arises :    If   Marx'   conception   was  as  clear  as   he 


234  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

pretended,  why  this  delay  in  the  elaboration  of  its 
exposition  ?  He  was  able  to  reduce  all  economic, 
historical  and  social  science  to  one  formula.  Why, 
then,  so  many  attempts  to  extract  it  ?  On  reading 
these  three  bulky  volumes  we  find  not  only  a 
quantity  of  rubbish,  but  a  number  of  compilations, 
principally  culled  from  the  English  "Reports  on 
Commercial  Distress  (1847 — 1848)"  and  the 
"Reports  on  Bank  Acts  (1857— 1858)."  It 
follows  that  the  documents  from  which  Karl  Marx' 
theories  are  to  be  gathered  extend  back  over  a 
period  of  fifty  or  sixty  years. 

In  1886,  Herr  Werner  Sombart,  a  professor  at 
the  University  of  Breslau,  delivered  a  course  of 
lectures  at  Zurich,  intended  for  the  glorification  of 
Karl  Marx,  but  he  commenced  with  this  admission  : 
"A  perusal  of  the  writings  of  Marx  and  Engels 
since  the  complete  development  of  their  ideas,  that 
is  from  1847  to  1883,  presents  the  intellectual 
heritage  which  they  have  bequeathed  to  us,  at  first 
sight,  as  a  disordered  confusion  of  the  most  con- 
Hicling  conceptions.  It  represents  an  extremely 
heavy  pot-pourri  of  contradictory  doctrines." 
Nevertheless,  as  a  conscientious  disciple,  he  adds 
that  "at  the  end  of  half  a  century  after  its  con- 
ception, we  are  still  in  search  of  the  true  meaning 
of  the  profound  significance  of  his  doctrine."  In 
his  restless  desire  for  orthodoxy  he  puts  forward 
the  view  that  "Marx  and  Engels  were  not  always 
consistent  Marxists,  either  in  theory  or  in 
practice." 

M.  J.  Bourdeau  did  not  exaggerate  when  he 
observed  that  Marxism  includes  three  doctrines, 
the  "hermetic,"  which  its  authors  alone  possessed, 
and  of  which  Herr  Kautsky,  the  great  Marxist 
theologian,  and  editor  of  the  "Neue  Zeit,"  is 
perhaps  one  of  the  few  surviving  depositaries,  if 
we  admit  that  Engels  did  not  carry  the  secret  with 
him  to  the  grave;  an  "esoteric"  doctrine  upon 
Avhich  a  small  band  of  doctors  and  disciples  are 


ADMISSIONS   OF   THE   APOSTLES    235 

wont  to  comment;  and  finally  an  "exoteric"  doc- 
trine for  the  purposes  of  propaganda  and  of  public 
meetings. 

In  point  of  fact,  Marx  was  the  propagator  of 
at  least  three  different  Socialisms:  — 

1.  The  Socialism  which  is  called  scientific. 
The  Social  Revolution  was  the  "natural 
necessity"  of  the  struggle  of  the  two  classes, 
the  increasingly  numerous  and  increasingly 
wretched  proletarians  and  the  increasingly 
rich  and  decreasingly  numerous  capitalists. 

2.  Theatrical  Socialism.  The  Revolution  which 
is  to  call  forth  a  volcanic  explosion. 

3.  Opportunist  Socialism,  promoting  limitation 
of  the  hours  of  labour,  minimum  wages, 
weekly  day  of  rest,  etc. 

The  majority  of  Socialists  imitate  Karl  Marx 
and  profess  all  three  forms,  despite  the  contradic- 
tions which  they  involve.  Herr  VV^erner  Sombart 
desired  "a  psychological  foundation  for  social 
development,  to  which  Karl  Marx  has  hardly  paid 
attention." 

We  are  only  familiar  with  this  psychological 
foundation  through  the  programmes,  declarations 
and  declamations  of  the  Socialist  leaders.  With 
regard  to  France,  their  most  marked  characteristics 
are  collected  in  my  "Comedie  Socialiste."  They 
proceed  by  means  of  antitheses,  after  the  manner 
of  Louis  Blanc.  Private  property  is  accompanied 
by  misery.  Therefore  it  must  be  abolished. 
There  are  people  who  find  it  inconvenient  to  pay 
their  rent.  Therefore  houses  must  be  owned  by 
the  State.  There  are  people  who  are  in  want  of 
work.  Therefore  the  State  must  possess  itself  of 
all  the  means  of  production  and  supply  everybody 
with  work  !  Here  are  some  peoi)Ie  who  are  richer 
than  others.  Therefore  the  State  must  possess 
itself  of  all  wealth.  This  is  the  agenda  at  political 
and  election  meetings,  garnished  with  a  few 
pleasantries  such  as  are  calculated  to  flatter  the  low 


236  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

instincts  of  greed  and  covetousness.  In  surrender- 
ing themselves  to  the  psychological  exploitation  of 
the  pilgrims  who  are  seeking  the  Socialist  Mecca, 
expert  Socialists  are  merely  following  the  course 
adopted  by  Marx. 

Herr  Werner  Sombart,  after  recognising  his 
obscurities  and  incoherences,  concludes  by  passing 
the  following  eulogy  upon  him  :  "The  work  of 
Karl  Marx  has  been  to  abolish  cant  in  the  political 
and  social  sphere."  It  has  certainly  not  abolished 
metaphor.  In  the  "  Communist  Manifesto  "  he 
speaks  of  the  "frozen  wave  of  calculating  egoism," 
and  twenty  years  later  in  "Das  Kapital"  he 
repeats  in  various  forms  the  sentence  "capital  is 
dead  labour  that,  vampire-like,  only  lives  by  suck- 
ing living  labour,  and  lives  the  more,  the  more 
labour  it  sucks"^— a  metaphor  which  will  only 
impress  those  who  still  believe  in  ghost  stories. 

Karl  Marx  talks  of  the  "habitual  charlatanism 
and  pretended  science"  of  Proudhon.  Yet  both 
adopt  the  same  method,  the  same  boldness  of  assev- 
eration and  the  same  subtlety  as  regards  verbal 
distinctions.  If  Proudhon  bases  the  whole  of  his 
"Contradictions  Economiques"  upon  a  sentence  of 
Jean  Baptiste  Say's,  and  Lassalle  constructs  the  iron 
law  of  wages  upon  a  sentence  of  Ricardo's,  Karl 
iNIarx  bases  the  whole  of  his  system  upon  Ricardo's 
statement  that  profits  rise  or  fall  in  exact  propor- 
tion to  the  rate  of  wages.  He  also  repeats  with 
approval  Ricardo's  statement  that  if  you  lower  the 
cost  of  maintenance  by  lowering  the  price  of  food 
and  raiment,  you  will  find  that  wages  will  end 
by  falling,  despite  a  considerable  increase  in  the 
demand  for  labour. 

"Scientific  Socialism,"  therefore,  has  no  real 
existence  from  the  historical,  economic  or 
psychological  point  of  view.  The  facts  which 
have    unfolded    themselves   during    the    last   sixty 

1  Das  Kapital,  i.,  chap.  x. 


ADMISSIONS   OF   THE   APOSTLES    237 

years  have  been  in  contradiction  with  the  theories 
of  the  "Communist  Manifesto."  The  followers  of 
Marx  are  obliged  to  recognise  the  obscurities, 
incoherences  and  contradictions  of  his  work. 
Nevertheless  they  recapitulated  his  dogmas  at  the 
Erfurt  Congress  in  iSqi,  and  declined  to  renounce 
them,  while  at  the  Liibeck  Congress  in  1901  Bebel 
secured  the  condemnation  of  Bernstein  by  203  votes 
to  31. 

The  Socialists  have  been  forced  to  abandon  their 
scientific  pretensions,  for  science  has  but  one 
object,  the  search  after  truth  ;  and  their  professors, 
finding  themselves  between  the  necessity  of 
admitting  either  their  ignorance  or  their  want  of 
faith,  sacrifice  their  morality  to  their  desire  to  pre- 
serve their  reputation  for  perspicacity.  While 
admitting  that  the  "iron  law  of  wages"  was  still 
a  subject  of  discussion  at  the  Gotha  Congress,  they 
said  that  this  was  merely  by  way  of  a  political 
concession  to  the  followers  of  Lassalle.  And  vet 
T>iebknecht  said,  at  the  Breslau  Congress,  that 
Marx'  work  is  capable  of  the  most  conflict- 
ing interpretations.  These  are  indeed  singular 
scientific  conditions.  ^T.  Charles  Andler  asserts 
that  "all  Socialistic  doctrine  renounces  the  claim 
to  be  considered  as  a  science.  A  man  is  only  a 
Socialist  by  conviction  or  bv  sentiment.  An  ideal 
is  incapable  of  demonstration."  M.  Georges 
Sorel's  conclusion  is  that  "Socialists  are  wrong  in 
trying  to  form  a  scientific  partv,"  He  reminds 
them  that  the  Church  has  been  hampered  bv 
makine  its  theological  doctrines  jointly  and 
severally  answerable  for  supernatural  propositions. 
"Evervone,"  he  continues,  "recognises  that  a 
strict  revision  of  the  doctrine  bequeathed  by  Marx 
and  Engels  is  required." 

The  German  Socialists  claim  to  be  the  sole 
observers  of  social  evolution.  On  proceeding  to 
verify  their  assertions,  we  find  the  following 
results  :  — 


238  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

(i)  LassaUe's  "iron  law  of  ivages*'  is  a 
deduction  from  a  proposition  of  Ricardn, 
ivhich  is  belied  by  the  facts. 

(2)  Karl  Marx'  theory  of  surplus  laborer  is 
derived  from  the  sarne  proposition  of 
Ricardo ;  his  theory  of  value  is  merely  a 
plagiarism  of  a  mutilated  definition  of 
Ricardo' s  measure  of  value. 

(5)  The  theory  of  a  social  dichotomy  contained 
in  the  "Communist  Manifesto"  is  a  propo- 
sition devoid  of  all  reality. 

(jf)  All  the  fundamental  conceptions  of  Ger- 
man Socialism  are  a  priori  "conceptions 
ivhich  are  not  in  accordance  with  the  facts." 

The  founders  and  leaders  of  Socialist  schools  of 
thought  have  not  sought  after  scientific  truth  for 
its  own  sake ;  they  have  all  made  truth  subordinate 
to  certain  political  conceptions. 


BOOK    VII 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION 


CHAPTER    I 

COLLECTIVIST    ORGAXISATIOX    AXD    ITS    ECONOMIC 

Conditions 
I. 

i.     Centralisation  of  all  the  means  of  production  in  the 
hands  of  the  State — Schoeffle — "The  Quintessence  of 
Socialism", 
ii.     The     Alpha    and     Omega     of     Socialism — Common 
property — Equality   of   all   producers — All   property 
private  except  property  in  goods  employed  in  produc- 
tion— Abolition  of  money — Distribution  of  labovir — 
The  artistic  professions — Bebel  and  "the  executive" 
— Allurement  and  coercion — Condemnation  to  death 
by  starvation, 
iii.     Existing  government  monopolies — Schoeffle 's  hypo- 
thesis—Waste, 
iv.     Remuneration  of  labour — The  time  of  social  labour 
— Complicated  accounts :  How  are  they  to  be  ascer- 
tained ? — The     artist     and     the     right     to     work — 
Impossibility   of   identifying   the    hour   of   labour — 
Purchasing  power — Everyone  will  not  receive  remun- 
eration— Deductions   from   the   integral    product   of 
labour. 
V.     Arts  and  trades  which  supply  luxuries — Literature 

and  the  drama, 
vi.     Abolition    of    commerce  —  Foreign     purchases  — 

Imports — Abolition  of  a  portion  of  exports, 
vii.  Four  types  of  distribution — Subjective  demand — 
Subjective  and  objective  limits — -Abolition  of  certain 
classes  of  demand  by  the  State. 
Karl  Marx,  Engels,  Jules  Guesde  and  Paul  La- 
fargue  carefully  guarded  themselves  against  repro- 
ducing the  Utopias  of  More,  Campanella,  Morelly 
and  Cabet.  Bebel  was  once  questioned  by  a 
deputy  belonging  to  the  centre  party  with  regard 
to  the  organisation  of  collectivist  society.  His 
answer  was:  "Do  you  think  I  am  so  indiscreet  as 
to  ask  you  for  details  of  your  Paradise?"  Never- 
theless Bebel  himself  in  his  book,  "Die  Frau  und 
der  vSocialismus,"  has  attempted  to  construct  a  pic- 

Q 


242  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

ture  of  the  society  of  the  future  which  has  involved 
him  in  some  severe  reprimands. 

Herr  Schoeffle,  a  g-entleman  from  Wurtemberg", 
who  was  professor  of  political  economy  at  the 
University  of  Tiibin^en  and  afterwards  at  Vienna 
from  i860  to  1868,  and  Austrian  Minister  of  Agri- 
culture and  Commerce  from  February  7th  to  Octo- 
ber 30th,  187 1,  finally  retired  to  Stuttgart,  and  in 
1874  published  a  work  in  four  bulky  volumes 
entitled  "  Bau  und  Leben  des  socialen  Korpers" 
(structure  and  life  of  the  social  body)  in  which  he 
entirely  assimilated  the  social  body  to  a  biological 
organism.  A  part  of  it  he  devoted  to  an  examina- 
tion of  the  working  of  collectivist  society  according 
to  the  Gospel  of  Marx.  This  has  been  published 
separately  and  sold  bv  tens  of  thousands,  under  the 
title  of  the  "Ouintessence  of  Socialism." 

II. 

Bebel  says  that  every  individual  will  select  the 
occupation  in  which  he  desires  to  be  employed; 
the  large  number  of  kinds  of  labour  will  permit  of 
the  satisfaction  of  the  most  various  desires.  But  if 
there  should  be  a  surplus  in  one  kind  and  an  in- 
sufficiency in  others,  the  executive  "will  adjust  the 
matter  and  repair  the  inequality."  Accordingly, 
the  distribution  of  labour  can  only  be  effected  by 
authority,  otherwise  the  more  agreeable  and  least 
exhausting  occupations  will  attract  everyone,  while 
those  which  are  difificult  and  dangerous  will  be 
avoided.  In  order  to  obtain  workers  for  the  latter, 
they  must  be  remunerated  on  a  higher  scale.  Will 
the  executive  have  recourse  to  this  means  of  attract- 
ing labour?  If  it  does,  the  remuneration  of  labour 
will  no  longer  be  equal  and  we  shall  revert  to  the 
combinations  of  capitalist  society.  What  will 
become  of  the  difference  between  the  industrious 
and  the  lazy,  the  intelligent  and  the  stupid?  Bebel 
replies  boldlv  that  there  will  be  no  such  diflferences, 
because  the  distinctions  which  we  associate  with  the 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     24,-, 

conception  of  them  will  have  ceased  to  exist. 

Schoeifle  attempts  (chap.  viii.  p.  90)  to  reconcile 
collectivism  and  private  property.  The  individual 
will  be  granted  the  right  to  exercise  thrift  and  toowm 
private  property,  and  even  the  right  of  inheritance 
as  regards  goods  employed  in  production.  He  does 
not  develop  this  proposal,  but  we  may  infer  that  he 
w'ould  allow  the  ownership  of  a  picture  and  the 
right  to  leave  it  by  will.  But  can  it  be  sold?  No, 
for  there  we  fall  back  into  capitalist  societv,  even 
if  its  value  be  only  paid  in  the  form  of  remunera- 
tion for  labour. 

Some  collectivists  support  the  retention  of  money 
— a  dangerous  concession,  for,  if  it  be  of  a  good 
standard  it  may  be  saved,  put  on  one  side  and 
developed  into  capital.  vSchoeffle  makes  no  such 
concession  and  will  permit  no  one  to  acquire  any- 
thing but  remuneration  or  vouchers  for  labour. 

Karl  Marx  did  not  concern  himself  with  the  in- 
centives to  action  which  are  to  be  placed  before  men 
in  communistic  society,  and  his  followers  carefully 
evade  the  question.  When  they  do  attempt  to 
deal  with  it  thev  fall  into  grotesque  errors,  like 
M.  Jaur^s.  Herr  Kautskv  asks  himself  how  the 
workman  is  to  be  made  to  take  an  interest  in  his 
work,  and  he  can  find  no  incentive  other  than  the 
force  of  habit.  Like  mechanical  toys,  men  will  do 
the  same  thing  everv  dav  because  thev  did  it  the  day 
before.  This  is  merelv  teaching  tricks  to  animals, 
the  organisation  of  reflex  action  causing  the  indi- 
vidual to  do  mechanicallv  to-morrow  what  he  did 
yesterday.  This  is  not  a  discovery  of  scientific 
socialism  ;  the  organisers  of  armies  and  of  churches 
discovered  it  long  ago  and  employed  it  as  a  means 
of  discipline  under  the  sanctions  of  allurement  and 
coercion;  allurement  by  preferments,  decorations 
and  honorary  and  material  distinctions,  and 
coercion  by  means  of  more  or  less  cruel  and 
vigorous  punishments.       Rebel    declares    that    "a 


244  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

man  who  will  not  work  shall  not  have  the  right  to 
eat."  This  is  being  condemned  to  death  by 
starvation.  And  a  man  who  does  less  work  than, 
in  the  opinion  of  the  executive,  he  ought  to  do,  will 
have  to  be  put  upon  a  restricted  diet,  so  that  the 
collectivist  ideal  ends  in  servile  labour. 

III. 

Schoeffle  cites  government  monopolies,  such  as 
the  post  office,  telegraphs,  and  in  some  countries 
railways,  carried  on  by  the  State,  etc.,  as  argu- 
ments in  favour  of  collectivism,  but  he  realises  that 
the  manner  of  their  administration  may  inspire 
some  distrust,  and  takes  care  to  point  out  that 
government  works  are  entirely  different  in  an  in- 
dividualistic and  in  a  communistic  State.  IManagers 
and  workers  in  State  factories  have,  in  fact,  no 
interest  in  economical  production  for  the  good  of 
the  State,  but  it  would  be  otherwise  if  everyone 
were  to  receive  the  greater  remuneration  in  accord- 
ance as  others  perform  more  work  in  all  classes  of 
production. 

Thus,  under  a  collectivist  dispensation,  fishermen 
are  desperately  bent  on  their  occupation  during  the 
icy  winter  nights,  because  they  say  to  themselves, 
"we  must  work  with  energv  in  order  to  add  a  dozen 
baskets  of  fish  to  the  social  wealth."  The  navvies 
v.'ill  say,  "we  must  work  a  little  faster  in  order  to 
increase  the  social  wealth  by  a  cubic  metre  per  day." 
And  the  fisherman  and  the  navvy  will  understand 
that  they  must  both  give  the  maximum  of  produc- 
tion without  knowing  whether  they  will  reap  any 
immediate  advantage  thereby. 

So  far  we  find  waste  in  all  collectivist  organisa- 
tions. In  France  every  soldier  receives  a  bowl  of 
bread,  the  inferior  quality  of  which  has  been 
pointed  out  by  M.  Fleurent.  But  all  soldiers  do 
not  possess  the  same  appetite.  There  are  companies 
in  which  200  or  300  kilos  of  bread  per  week  remain 
uneaten,  and  are  sold  to  contractors  at  low  prices. 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     245 

At  this  rate  172,000  kilogrammes  of  bread  per 
annum  are  ^vasted  by  a  regiment,  and  part  of  that 
which  is  consumed  is  used  to  wipe  badly  washed 
plates,  spoons,  knives  and  forks.  Watch  these 
soldiers  peeling  potatoes;  their  common  interest 
would  be  that  it  should  be  done  properly,  yet  the 
majority  do  it  in  a  way  which  increases  the  waste 
to  an  absurd  extent.  Schoeffle  does  not  explain  by 
what  means  the  collectivist  State  will  prevent  waste. 

IV. 

Schoeffle  sees  a  system  of  remunerating  labour 
by  means  of  labour  tickets  or  vouchers,  for  he 
realises  that  it  is  impossible  to  abolish  rewards  as 
an  incentive  to  action  ;  he  also  retains  exchange  of 
commodities  when  produced.  But  how  is  the  price 
to  be  determined  ?  He  applies  Marx'  formula  of 
value  in  its  entirety. 

The  prices  of  social  products  are  to  be  determined 
by  the  cost  of  labour ;  labour  is  to  be  determined 
according  to  the  time  of  social  labour  fixed  by  a 
process,  the  simplicity  of  which  no  one  can  fail  to 
admire.  If  a  district  requires  20,000  hectolitres  of 
wheat  and  has  to  employ  100,000  days  of  socially 
organised  labour  in  order  to  produce  it,  each 
hectolitre  will  be  worth  ViiVVcT-  =  5  days  of  labour. 
This  value  will  have  currency  even  if  individuals 
may  have  devoted  10  or  20  days  of  individual  labour 
to  the  production  of  a  hectolitre  of  wheat.  This 
amounts  in  a  year  to  300,000,000  days,  socially 
organised,  which,  if  the  day  consists  of  eight  hours, 
will  represent  2,400,000,000  social  hours  of  labour. 
The  sum  total  of  all  the  necessary  social  wealth 
produced  under  public  management  would  likewise 
have  a  total  value  of  2,400,000,000  hours  of  labour. 
The  hours  of  labour  =  TTrjf.iTWonTr  of  collective 
annual  labour,  and  should  be  the  general  measure 
of  value  and  2,400,000,000  nominal  labour-units 
should  be  handed  to  the  workers  in  the  form  of 
certificates,    vouchers,    or    cheques,     representing 


246  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

labour,  in  order  that  these  same  workers  might  pur- 
chase the  total  produce  of  the  collective  labour  at 
the  public  stores,  amounting  to  a  corresponding 
value  of  2,400,000,000  hours  of  labour.  Public 
departments  of  administration  would  give  credit 
for  work  done,  fix  the  value  of  the  product  accord- 
ing to  the  ascertained  cost  of  production  in  terms 
of  labour-time,  deliver  cheques  on  account  of  work 
when  registered,  and  hand  over  products  against 
these  cheques  at  the  rates  based  upon  the  cost  of 
social  labour  (pp.  75-76). 

After  setting  forth  this  excellent  system,  Schoefifle 
raises  two  questions: — 

(i).  Is    the   premiss,    according  to    which  the 
social  cost  of  labour  is  the  measure  of  value 
of  wealth,  accurate  from  the  point  of  view 
of  theory  ? 
(2).  Can  the  socialist  State,  as  a  whole,  deal 
with     the     enormous     system     of     social 
accounts   which  would   be  necessary,  and 
could   it   make  an  accurate  assessment  of 
unequal    labours    according    to    units    of 
social  labour-time,  from  the  point  of  view 
of  practice. 
No  doubt  this  dispensation  would  form  a  triumph 
for  the  accountants,  but  it  is  fair  to  ask  how  these, 
and  a  fortiori  the  persons  interested,  could  know 
whether  the  measure    of    the    hour    of    labour    of 
T-f(jO(TViTri(Vfi-  is    really    the    correct    measure.        But 
this  figure,  which  is  high  as  it  stands,  is  insignifi- 
cant when  compared  with  actual  facts.     It  is  applied 
to  the  production  of  10,000  hectolitres  of  corn.     But 
the  average  production  in  France,  which  is  insuffi- 
cient to  satisfy  the  demand  of  the  consumers,  is  at 
least  120  million    hectolitres.       Applying    to    this 
the    unit  of    the    labour-hour,  we    have,  therefore, 
5y^Tr77T5-(TWTTTTf)oo.  or  a  unit  of  288  trillions  of  labour- 
hours.     I3ut  how  is  this  unit  of  288  trillions  to  be 
fixed  ?     By  dividing  up  the  quantity  of  corn  pro- 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     247 

duced  ?  But  is  the  production  in  every  year  and 
in  everv  place  identical  with  the  number  of  labour- 
hours  which  have  been  devoted  to  it?  A  drought 
when  the  corn  is  ripening  will  reduce  the  quantity 
of  corn  and  consequently  the  value  of  the  labour- 
hour.  If  the  harvest  be  abundant,  the  value  of  the 
labour-hour  is  increased.  But  there  may  have  been 
an  abundant  harvest  in  one  locality  and  a  bad  one 
in  another.  How  then  is  the  equality  of  labour- 
hours  to  be  ascertained?  In  order  to  do  so,  it 
would  be  necessary  to  wait  until  the  harvest  was 
gathered  and  measured.  What  would  be  the  value 
of  the  labour-hour  during  this  period?  No  doubt 
it  would  be  that  of  the  preceding  year,  but  suppos- 
that  the  harvest  in  the  preceding  year  was  good, 
while  that  of  the  present  year  is  bad,  and  that  the 
labour-hour  of  the  preceding  year  continues  to  be 
taken  as  the  unit,  a  value  will  be  attributed  to  it 
which  is  quite  devoid  of  reality. 

This  labour-hour  cannot  be  identical  from  one 
harvest  to  another,  neither  can  it  be  identical  as 
between  different  localities. 

Can  it  be  the  same  in  the  level  country  of  the 
North  of  France  and  on  the  edge  of  a  moor  in 
Brittany?  And  if  the  labour-hour  cannot  be 
identified  for  the  same  product,  how  can  it  be  identi- 
fied as  between  different  ones?  Is  the  labour-hour 
of  the  labourer  in  Lower  Brittany  identical  with 
that  of  a  skilled  mechanic?  Is  the  artist  to  be 
entitled  to  demand  vouchers  for  his  labour-hours 
if  there  be  no  one  able  or  willing  to  purchase  his 
pictures?  Will  not  the  "executive"  point  out  to  him 
that  he  has  no  claim  because  he  has  been  engaged 
in  useless  toil  ?  In  that  event  we  find  him  bereft  of 
his  right  to  work.  Can  he  appeal?  And  while 
his  appeal  is  ponding,  how  is  he  to  live?  He  will 
be  told  that  "there  are  too  many  artists,  and  that 
the  vState  cannot  undertake  to  give  them  all  vouchers 
for  their  work  in  proportion  to  the  time  which  they 


248  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

have  spent  in  front  of  their  canvases."  But  I  must 
live.  Certainly,  then  come  and  work  at  the 
accounts.  But  I  have  no  head  for  figures.  There 
is  a  canal  being  excavated,  go  and  work  as  a  navvy. 
But  that  is  not  my  profession.  So  much  the  worse 
for  you,  we  have  nothing  else  to  offer  you,  and  if 
you  don't  do  as  we  suggest,  you  will  receive  no 
vouchers  for  work.  Then  I  shall  die  of  starvation. 
So  much  the  worse  for  you.  And  if  I  blister  my 
hands  at  the  tenth  shovel-full,  and  if  at  the  end  of 
two  or  three  hours  I  am  unable  to  budge,  am  I  to 
receive  a  voucher  for  labour  equal  to  that  of  the 
man  who  has  shifted  eleven  cubic  metres  in  his 
day's  work? 

This  question  will  not  arise  only  in  the  case  of  the 
artist,  it  will  arise  in  that  of  the  weaver  of  Lyons, 
the  ribbon-weaver  of  Saint  Etienne,  the  goldsmith, 
the  printer,  and  of  persons  of  every  occupation ; 
it  will  arise  in  the  case  of  agricultural  labourers,  for 
they  do  not  work  three  hundred  days  in  the  year 
and  have  periods  when  work  is  stopped ;  will 
they  receive  vouchers  on  the  days  when  the  snow  is 
on  the  ground  and  they  are  obliged  to  stay  at 
home? 

Is  the  value  of  the  labour-hour  identical  for  each 
individual?  Are  not  people  skilful  and  unskilful, 
quick  and  slow  ? 

Finally  the  cost  of  labour  is  only  one  factor  in 
the  net  cost  of  a  commodity,  and  if  the  net  cost  is 
an  objective  element  in  its  value,  there  are  two 
others — the  demand,  and  the  purchasing  power  of 
the  consumer. 

Purchasing  power  is  to  be  regulated  by  the  num- 
ber of  vouchers  for  work  received  by  each  indi- 
vidual. But  if  these  vouchers  only  correspond  with 
the  time  occupied  without  being  represented  by  an 
exchangeable  product,  what  is  their  possessor  to  do 
with  them  ? 
Again  everyone  will    not   receive    vouchers    for 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     249 

labour  in  order  to  live ;  children  will  form  an  excep- 
tion, as  will  also  women  who  do  not  work  in  the 
public  workshops.  Still  less  will  the  aged  receive 
them,  they  will  have  to  be  supported  at  the  expense 
of  the  active  population.  Everyone,  therefore,  will 
not  receive,  in  the  form  of  vouchers  for  labour,  "  the 
integral  product  of  his  labour." 

The  administrative  department  charged  with  the 
distribution  of  work  would  begin  by  providing  for 
the  departmental  expenses  and  the  expenses  of 
regulating  the  accounts  of  the  remuneration 
to  be  credited  to  each  w^orker,  which  would  be 
heavy ;  the  expenses  of  government  would  be 
onerous  in  proportion  to  the  multiplicity  of  its 
functions  and  the  actual  cost  of  national  defence, 
police,  and  of  the  administration  of  justice  would 
continue  to  fall  upon  labour  so  long  as  the  whole  of 
humanity  remains  unconverted  to  collectivism  and 
human  nature  remains  unchanged. 

V. 

Collectivist  society  would  abolish  the  arts  and 
trades  which  supply  luxuries.  Art  is  the  result  of 
individual  effort,  and  those  who  devote  themselves 
to  it,  are  induced  to  do  so  by  their  natural  tastes 
and  also  by  resulting  advantages  in  the  shape  of 
reputation  and  emolument.  No  doubt  there  are 
many  who  fail  and  are  obliged  to  renounce  the  pur- 
suit of  their  youthful  aspirations,  but  there  remains 
a  minority  of  those  who  succeed,  and  who  is  to  dis- 
criminate between  those  who  are  to  make  the 
attempt  and  those  who  are  to  be  debarred  from 
competition  ?  The  "  prix  dc  Rome"  was  instituted 
in  the  time  of  Colbert.  How  many  of  the  number 
of  artists  who  have  gained  it  and  of  those  who  have 
developed  their  art  outside  formulae  consecrated  by 
official  sanction,  have  left  a  decisive  mark  upon 
art?  Only  the  State,  the  municipalities  and  repre- 
sentatives of  the  collective  principle  generally  will 
buy  pictures  or  statues,  for  such  objects  represent 


250  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

capital  possessed  of  purchasing  power  and  are  not 
to  be  tolerated  as  the  objects  of  private  or  individual 
ownership.  The  artist  must,  therefore,  bring  his 
taste  into  conformity  with  that  of  the  distributor  of 
commissions,  as  he  is  already  restrained  by  official 
commissions.  But  he  will  no  longer  be  able  to  fall 
back  upon  the  patronage  of  individuals  whose  in- 
fluence reacts  more  or  less  tardilv  and  effectually 
upoiv  the  pubhc  administration  of  the  fine  arts,  and 
whose  mistakes  of  the  past  and  the  present  give 
some  indication  of  those  which  are  likely  to  be  com- 
mitted in  the  future  when  deprived  of  this  stimulant. 
But  what  of  literature  and  the  drama?  Will 
there  be  newspapers  and  booksellers'  shops  carried 
on  by  private  enterprise  ?  That  is  impossible,  for 
these  are  capitalistic  enterprises,  admitting  of  "the 
exploitation  of  man  by  man,"  since  they  employ 
wage-earners,  from  the  scene-shifter  to  the  tenor, 
the  leading  lady  and  the  masters  of  literature. 
There  will,  therefore,  be  only  official  journals,  and 
these  can  contain  only  articles  in  accordance  with 
official  politics,  economy,  and  science;  there  will 
be  only  official  books,  and  consequently  all  spon- 
taneity of  thought,  all  criticism  and  all  new  ideas 
will  be  prohibited.  Will  the  authors  of  official 
plavs  be  allowed  to  portray  individual  interests  and 
passions  in  opposition  to  official  regulations,  or  to 
expose  the  grievances  of  persons  who  have  been 
deprived  of  work  or  of  sustenance  because  they 
have  displeased  those  who  are  charged  with  dis- 
tributing them  ?  There  would  be  no  room  in  a 
collectivist  societv  for  an  Aristophanes  or  even  a 
Moliere,  and  the  great  passions  as  evoked  by 
Corneille  would  be  carefully  banished,  for  they 
might  disturb  the  order,  the  tranquillity  and  the 
harmony  of  the  communistic  ant-hill. 

VT. 

There  are    to  be    no  more    exchanges,    no  more 
markets,  and  no  more  prices.  How  then  is  the  State 


COLLECTIVIST    0RGx\NISAT10N     251 

to  estimate  the  net  cost  of  its  products  ?  Although 
Germany  may  have  the  honour  of  being  the  first 
collectivist  country,  it  will  not  be  able  to  grow 
cotton  and  coffee  on  the  banks  of  the  Spree.  Its 
government  will,  therefore,  be  obliged  to  make  pur- 
chases abroad,  to  pay  for  them  in  cash,  and  to 
circulate  in  the  capitalist  groove.  France  has 
reached  the  stage  of  producing  refined  articles  such 
as  her  wines  and  her  brandies.  Where  will  be  the 
customers,  in  a  collectivist  society,  to  pay  the  prices 
necessary  to  cover  the  cost  of  their  production  ? 
Ideal  equality  will  remain  far  to  seek.  I  have 
heard  a  socialist  ask,  "  Will  collectivism  change  the 
soil  and  the  sunshine  of  Medoc?"  No,  but  wine 
does  not  come  into  existence  of  its  own  accord,  the 
vine-stocks  and  the  conditions  of  soil  and  of  climate 
do  not  produce  fine  harvests  spontaneously,  but 
need  to  be  properly  utilised,  and  require  an  annual 
expenditure  upon  the  cost  of  cultivation ;  and 
subordinate  officials  without  a  direct  interest  are 
not  the  men  to  apply  the  required  attention  to  this 
kind  of  production.  The  export  of  these  products 
is  indispensable  to  France,  but  a  home  market  is 
necessary  if  they  are  to  attain  to  the  perfection 
which  distinguishes  them,  and  inasmuch  as  there 
is  no  place  for  it  in  the  organisation  of  collectivist 
society  on  a  basis  of  equality,  they  will  disappear. 
The  inventive  genius  of  the  dressmakers  of  the  Rue 
de  la  Paix  and  of  the  large  milliners'  establishments 
is  stimulated  by  French  ladies  of  fashion.  In  a 
rol'ectivist  society,  these  must  disappear,  and  all 
this  portion  of  the  economic  activity  of  the  nation 
must  vanish.  Puritan  collectivists  may  say,  in 
agreement  with  those  who  profess  a  more  or  less 
defined  ideal  of  religious  asecticism.  "So  much  the 
better;  we  see  no  necessity  for  those  occupations 
which  are  an  element  of  waste  and  speculate  upon 
feminine  vanity." 
The  future  is  not  for  the  monks  of  the  Thebaid 


252  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

or  the  Scotch  Puritans,  and  the  French,  of  all 
nations,  are  undoubtedly  the  least  disposed  to  be 
seduced  by  such  prospects,  for  they  have  always 
had  a  horror  of  a  morose  and  wearisome  existence. 
The  wildest  of  collectivist  ladies  would  protest  if 
their  husbands  were  to  condemn  them  to  wear  the 
uniform  of  the  Salvation  Army. 

But  collectivists  would  succeed  no  better  than 
protectionists  in  making  France  self-sufficing.  vShe 
is  obliged  to  buy  raw  material  and  articles  of  food 
abroad  and  to  pay  for  them  with  the  produce  of  her 
own  industries.  In  1906  and  1907  we  imported 
thirteen  classes  of  articles  to  an  amount  of  more 
than  foo  million  of  francs  each,  viz.: — 

Millions  of  francs. 

1906  1907 

Wool     533.1         380.4 

Coal  and  Coke  361.2         441.5 

Raw  cotton     358.9         440.7 

Rawsilk 345.5         429.1 

Oilseeds    231.2         272.8 

Cereals  (including  malt)  221.3         225.6 

Hides  and  furs 199.6         224.2 

Timber  and  wood  172.6         183.5 

Copper     164.7         155.3 

Machinery   148.4  153.1 

Rubber  and  gutta-percha 120.3         109.4 

Wine    102.5         104.4 

Coffee   101.8         103.6 

These  thirteen  articles  represent  3,420  millions 
or  55  per  cent,  of  the  total  of  our  imports  in 
1907.  In  1907  we  imported  251,900  tons  of  wool, 
while  the  French  flocks  only  produced  40,000. 
Would  a  collectivist  society  be  able  to  decline  to 
import  wool  from  Australia  and  La  Plata  ?  Would 
it  have  cotton  grown  in  La  Beauce  ?  "Grow  it  in 
the  colonies,"  some  collectivist  will  say.  But 
England,  which  possesses  India,  has  not  been  able 
to  grow  cotton  of  long  fibre  there,  and  continues  to 
supply  herself  principally  from  the  United  States, 
which  in  their    turn    import    cotton  from    Egypt. 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     253 

Collectivist  society  involves  the  abolition  of  the 
silk  trade,  an  industry  for  the  supply  of  a  luxury. 
Would  it  ensure  that  the  ores  gotten  in  France 
should  be  sufficient  for  home  consumption  ?  Would 
it  discover  a  sufficient  production  of  skins  and  of 
raw  hides?  Would  it  forbid  the  importation  of 
common  timber  and  of  copper?  Would  it  allow 
France  to  import  no  machinery  ?  Bold  as  we  may 
be,  no  collectivist  would  venture  to  reply  that  he 
wished  to  make  France  a  country  more  completely 
closed  to  foreign  trade  than  Japan  before  the  revolu- 
tion of  1868.  But  how  do  we  pay  for  these  im- 
ports? Here  is  a  list  of  the  fourteen  articles  whose 
export  in  1906  and  1907  exceeded  too  millions  : — 

Millions  of  francs. 

1906  1907 

Textiles,  silks 307.8         355.6 

Textiles,   cotton      306.0         352.3 

Raw  wool  and  yarn  273.0         266.2 

Textiles,    woollen    224.9         245.0 

Wine    196.0         228.1 

Fancy     goods     and     Parisian 

novelties      184.(7         218.2 

Raw  silk  and  yarn   172.3         197.3 

Skins  and  furs'  153.1         158.8 

Linen  and  clothes  140.9         150.4 

Motor-cars       137.9  144.4 

Millinery  and  artificial  flowers     124.9         132.5 

Leather,  dressed     122.2         122.3 

Chemical  products 120.3         118.8 

Metal  goods  and  tools  114.8         106.3 

The  export  of  these  fourteen  articles  in  1907, 
yields  a  total  of  2,786  millions,  or  50  per  cent,  of 
the  total  exports.  Of  the.se  fourteen,  ten  are  manu- 
factured articles,  while  woollens,  worsteds  and 
chemicals  are  also  to  a  great  extent  manufac- 
tured. They  include  one  article  of  food,  wine, 
which  is  an  article  of  luxurv  to  the  great  majority 
of  the  human   race. 

Collectivist  society  must  needs  renounce  all  in- 
dustry connected  with  dressmaking  and  millinery 


254  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

for  ladies,  for  who  would  manage  establishments 
of  this  kind  under  a  collectivist  dispensation,  and 
where  would  he  their  customers  when  the  level  of 
equality  for  all  had  been  reached? 

The  disappearance  of  the  customers  in  the  home 
markets  would  involve  the  disappearance  of  foreign 
customers,  and  this  would  entail  the  elimination 
of  one  of  the  elements  in  the  national  activity. 
Would  a  collectivist  society  undertake  the  manu- 
facture and  sale  of  silk  stuffs,  fancy  goods, 
and  Parisian  novelties,  linen-drapery,  millinery 
and  artificial  flowers?  And  if  we  had  been  under 
a  collectivist  re^gime,  would  the  motor  car  industry 
have  been  developed  in  France  ? 

The  problem  that  suggests  itself,  then,  is  this. 
How  will  a  collectivist  societv  pav  for  such  of  the 
raw  materials  and  foodstuffs  as  it  requires  as  are 
produced  abroad  ? 

VII. 

We  have  seen  the  difficulties  involved  in  the 
distribution  of  labour  :  are  the  difficulties  connected 
with  the  distribution  of  products  and  of  profits  less 
considerable  ? 

There  are  four  types  of  distribution  : — ^ 

(t)  Absolute    mechanical    equality,    allotting    to 

each    individual   articles   of  consumption   of 

equal  qualitv. 
(2)  Hierarchical    distribution,  according    to    the 

services  rendered  bv  each   individual,   after 

making  a  deduction  of  the  portion  required 

bv  a  sinking  fund,  and  the  improvement  of 

the  means  of  production. 
(t)  Allocation  according  to  requirements  without 

regard  to  services  rendered. 
(4)  Distribution  in  equal  parts  of  profits,  leaving 

to  each  individual  the  choice  of  the  method 

of  consuming  them  to  which  he  mav  apply 

them. 

1  Professor  Elv.   "Socialwme." 


COLLECTIVIST    ORGANISATION     255 

The  programme  of  the  Gotha  Congress  (1875) 
adopts  the  third  type  by  recognising  "an  equal 
right  for  each  individual  to  receive  out  of  the  fruits 
of  the  common  labour  the  part  necessary  for  the 
satisfaction  of  his  reasonable  requirements."  The 
programme  of  the  Erfurt  Congress  (1891)  found 
the  question  so  embarrassing  that  it  abstained 
from  mentioning  it.  But  did  this  cause  its  dis- 
appearance? Who  is  to  determine  what  are 
reasonable  requirements?  They  are  subjective 
and  have  two  limitations — one  a  subjective  and 
indeterminate  one,  the  imagination  ;  the  other  one 
objective,  in  the  shape  of  purchasing  power. 

Is  purchasing  power  to  fix  the  limit  of  require- 
ments? In  that  case  what  is  the  distinction  as 
compared  with  capitalist  society?  If  a  woman  is 
unable  to  supplv  herself  with  diamonds  and  dresses 
according  to  her  fancy,  because  she  lacks  the  means 
by  which  to  obtain  them,  she  will  say,  "This  is  as 
it  was  imder  the  capitalist  regime. 

Schoeffle  recognises  that  the  State  could  sup- 
press requirements  which  appeared  to  it  to  be 
hurtful  by  abstaining  from  producing  the  articles 
which  it  would  condemn.  So  vegetarians  like 
Baltzer  declared  themselves  to  be  Socialists  in  the 
hope  that  the  State  would  condemn  the  whole 
Avorld  to  abstain  from  meat. 


CHAPTER    II 

The  Class  War  and  Political  Conditioxs 
i.  The  class  war — "The  proletariat  as  the  ruling 
class" — The  art  to  command  and  the  spirit  of 
discipline — Monasteries  and  barracks  with  women 
and  children— Electoral  rights— Parties— A  policy 
of  spoliation — Substitution  of  political  for  economic 
competition — No  one  will  work  except  on  the  requi- 
sition and  for  the  profit  of  his  opponents, 
ii.  Socialists  and  the  State — Peru  and  Paraguay — 
Fierceness  of  the  political  struggle. 

I. 

The  class  war,  says  the  "Communist  Mani- 
festo," must  result  in  the  abolition  of  classes, 
but  it  will  establish  "the  proletariat  as  the  rulingf 
class"  (§52).  Accordingly,  if  the  proletariat  be  a 
ruling  class,  there  will  be  a  class  which  oppresses 
and  a  class  which  is  oppressed.  The  classes  will 
not  have  disappeared,  thev  will  merely  have 
changed  their  positions.  '  The  "Communist 
Manifesto"  makes  it  a  supreme  consideration  to 
"centraH.se  the  means  of  production  in  the  hands 
of  the  State."  {§52). 

There  will  be  at  least  two  classes,  one  consisting 
of  officials  to  distribute  the  burdens  and  the  results 
of  labour,  the  other  of  the  drudges  to  execute  their 
commands.  Such  a  dispensation  would  not  bring 
with  it  social  peace,  for  political  would  take  the 
place  of  economic  competition. 

So  far  only  three  means  of  calling  human 
activity  into  being  have  been  recogni.sed,  those  of 
coercion,  allurement  and  remuneration.  Coercion 
is  servile  labour — work,  or  strike.  The  allure- 
ment of  high  office,  decorations,  rank  or  a  crown 
may  complete  the  coercion ;  we  see  the  two 
emplo3^ed  together  in  the  scho(jils,  the  Church  and 
the  Army.  Their  success  implies  two  conditions, 
on  the  one  hand  the  art  to  command,  and  on  the 
other  the  spirit  of  discipline.     But  what  are  these? 


THE  CLASS  WAR  257 

They  are  the  conditions  which  underlie  the  military 
spirit,  founded  upon  respect  for  a  hierarchy. 
Order,  in  a  Communist  Society,  requires  the 
virtues  of  convents  and  of  barracks.  But  establish- 
ments of  this  kind  consume  without  producing, 
and  have  furthermore  eliminated  the  question  of 
women  and  children. 

In  a  collectivist  society  will  there  be  citizens 
with  electoral  rights  ?  Presumablv ;  but  the  ballot 
is  but  an  instrument  for  classifying  parties,  so  that 
there  will  be  parties,  majorities  and  minorities; 
parties  which  will  attain  to  power  and  others  which 
will  be  in  opposition. 

Karl  Marx  says  that  he  makes  no  pretension  to 
change  human  nature.  But  unless  human  nature 
be  changed,  competition  will  be  the  more  fierce  in 
proportion  as  the  party  in  power,  disposing  of  all 
the  resources  of  life,  succeeds  in  appropriating  all 
the  advantages  to  itself  and  imposing  all  the  bur- 
dens upon  its  opponents.  This  means  a  policy  of 
spoliation  in  its  most  aggravated  form.  The 
question  will  be  to  ascertain  who  is  to  work  and 
who  is  to  reap  the  benefit.  There  will  be  a  servile 
class  and  a  class  which  obtains  the  benefit  of 
their  labour.  Economic  will  give  place  to  political 
competition,  and  the  best  method  of  acquiring  will 
be,  not  to  produce  and  to  exchange,  but  to 
dominate  and  to  extort.  Collective  ownership  will 
end  in  a  retrogression  of  productive  civilisation 
towards  civilisation  on  a  warlike  basis.  The 
party  in  power  will  distribute  profits  in  such  a 
manner  that  no  one  will  work  except  on  the 
requisition  and  for  the  profit  of  his  opponents. 

II. 

Schoeflfle  (p.  52)  is  justified  in  reproaching 
Socialists  with  being  the  enemies  of  the  State. 
vSince  Karl  Marx'  time  they  have  substituted  the 
term  "Society"  for  "the  State."  What  difference 
does  this  make  ?    The  object  of  all  their  aims,  and 

R 


258  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

of  all  the  articles  in  their  programmes  is  to 
increase  the  powers  of  the  State  and  to  entrust  it 
with  the  care  of  the  national  economic  life.  "When 
the  unified  organisation  of  labour  shall  have 
become  a  reality,"  says  Schoeffle,  "the  organs  of 
the  Socialist  State  will  be  geared  up  in  the  high 
degree  which  was  characteristic  of  the  Middle 
Ages."  Everv  centralisation  of  powers  is  a  sup- 
porter of  Socialism,  and  a  Socialist  Society  can 
only  be  confined  within  rigid  limits. 

A  collectivist  society  could  only  work  on  the 
model  of  Peru  under  the  domination  of  the  Incas, 
or  of  Paraguay  under  that  of  the  Jesuits.^  The 
struggle  of  humanity  would  be  suppressed,  except 
as  between  the  leaders,  and  these  would  develop 
factions  in  their  contentions  for  power.  In  this 
stage  of  civilisation  the  existence  of  parties  side  by 
side  would  be  impossible  and  the  struggle  could 
only  terminate  in  the  annihilation  of  the  van- 
quished. 


1  Supra,  Book  I.,  pp.  30  and  40. 


CHAPTER    III 
The  Deflections  of  Administrative  Organs 

Every  public  organisation  becomes  an  end  in  itself— 
Private  organisations  subject  to  competition — 
Officialdom  of  the  German  Socialist  party — Trade- 
Union  officials. 

Every  organisation  established  for  the  promotion 
of  a  particular  purpose  rapidly  forgets  the  object 
for  which  it  is  designed  and  becomes  an  object  in 
itself,  unless  restrained  by  the  permanent  menace 
of  a  heavy  responsibility.  This  state  of  mind 
attains  its  maximum  intensity  in  public  adminis- 
trative departments,  in  which  officials  and 
employees  do  not  know  whether  thev  are  made 
for  the  service  or  the  service  for  them.  It  mani- 
fests itself  in  an  army  or  a  navv  in  which,  the 
eventuality  of  war  appearing  far-off  or  even 
improbable,  too  many  officers  forget  that  it  is 
their  business  to  prepare  for  it,  and  since  they  are 
not  kept  pre-occupied  by  the  fear  of  the  sanction 
rif  the  battlefield,  their  attention  is  principally 
directed  to  the  minor  advantages  of  their  profession 
in  time  of  peace.  For  some,  these  consist  of  an 
existence  undisturbed  by  anxiety,  combined  with  a 
good  and  undisturbed  administration  of  their 
commands:  for  others,  the  opportunity  of  employ- 
ing only  a  moderate  degree  of  application  to  the 
discharge  of  their  professional  duties;  for  a  certain 
number  the  zeal  and  ability  which  will  procure 
fhem  promotion,  while  a  very  small  number  are 
pre-occupied  exclusively  with  military  activities. 

In  industrial  organisations  the  same  spirit  would 
rapidly  gain  the  upper  hand,  were  it  not  every  day 
disturbed  by  competition. 

Among  political  organisations,  the  German 
Social  Democratic  party  has  furnished  a  topical 
example.  Charged  with  the  administration  of  a 
Budget  derived  from  the  subscriptions  of  400,000 


26o  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

paying  members,  its  managers  have  forgotten  that 
the  party  is  merely  a  means  to  an  end ;  they  have 
made  the  party  an  object  in  itself,  since  it  secured 
them     positions     and     remuneration,     and     have 
administered  it  in  order  to  preserve  it  and  not  as  an 
engine  of  war  which  runs  the  risk  of  self-destruction 
in  the  performance  of  its  work.     Its  leaders  speak, 
but    do    not    act,     and    their    only    fear    is    that 
some  movement  may  put  their  beautiful  arrange- 
ment out  of  order.     This  attitude  of  mind  was  well 
displayed  at  the  Stuttgart  Congress.     The  electoral 
defeat  of  1906,  says  Bebel,  has  done  us  no  harm. 
The    party    has    increased    its    membership    from 
384,000  to  530,000,  and  our  subscriptions  in  June 
amounted  to  170,000  marks;  and  among  the  argu- 
ments   put    forward    by   them     in    opposition    to 
Herve's    theories,    they   pointed    to   their  personal 
security  without  any  false  shame.     If  this  is  their 
conception   of   their   work   when    constituted   as   a 
revolutionary  party,  imagine  how  they  would  have 
conceived  it  had  thev  been  at  the  head  of  a  Govern- 
ment.    They  would  have  approved  themselves  as 
model    Conservatives,    without    either    activit)^    or 
energv,   except  in   opposition  to  those  who  might 
have  threatened  their  positions. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb  have  told  us  of  the 
increasing  number  of  Trade  L^nion  officials,  and 
have  shown  us  that  the  policy  they  carry  out  is 
influenced  by  their  personal  position  rather  than 
by  the  interests  of  the  members  of  the  Unions.^ 

What  collectivist  is  there  who  can  imagine  that, 
if  the  collectivist  state  became  a  reality,  its  leaders 
and  officials  would  never  act  otherwise  than  with 
the  object  of  attaining  its  true  ideal? 


1  History  of  Trade  Unionism. 


CHAPTER    IV 

The  Impossibility  of  Collectivism 

Schoeffle — Negation  preceded  by  apology. 

Ix  his  Gospel  of  Collectivism,  as  propagated  by 
the  collectivists,  Schoeffle  concluded  by  saving  : 
"Socialism  must  be  able  and  willing  to  modify, 
from  foundation  to  coping-stone,  its  fundamental 
thesis  that  value  results  exclusively  from  the  total 
amount  of  labour  necessary  to  production.  We 
think  that  this  is  not  impossible,  but  this  notion, 
as  it  has  been  hitherto  formulated,  reduces  the  cur- 
rent economics  of  Socialism  to  a  mere  Utopia" 
(p.  78). 

Ten  years  later,  he  published  a  pamphlet  entitled 

"Die     aufsichstlosigkeit     der      Socialdemokratie" 

(Perfection    of    Social    Democracy)    in    which    he 

demonstrated   the   impossibilitv   of   the  collectivist 

organisation  which  he  had  himself  expounded.^ 

(i).  Collectivist  production  is  impossible  upon  a 

democratic  basis.     It  could  onlv  be  directed 

by   a    hierarchical   administration    devoid   of 

a     democratic     character,     without     liberty, 

equality  or  any  guarantee  against  abuses  of 

power. 

(2)  It     suppresses     nature     and     property  :     all 

matters  of  the  same  class  are  concentrated 

in  a  great  social  workshop  working  upon  the 

principle  of  equal  remuneration  for  the  same 

time  spent  in  labour,  but  with  a  democratic 

organisation    individuals    impregnated    with 

perpetual   flattery  would   not   submit   to   the 

sacrifices    requisite   to   effect    the    economics 

necessary  for  this  development  of  the  means 

of  production.      Those  who  possessed  them 

would  not  be  disposed  to  share  their  surplus 

with  others. 

1  See   an    analysis   in  "Les   Progres   de   la   Science   economi- 
ques,"  by  Maurice  Block. 


262  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

(3)  Supposing  that  it  were  possible  to  concen- 

trate in  one  body  all  the  branches  of 
production  on  the  basis  of  uniform  labour 
and  a  uniform  estimate  of  the  time  of  labour 
and  to  set  up  complete  local  factories,  that 
would  be  to  act  contrary  to  all  experience 
in  industrial  matters. 

(4)  An   increase  of  production   could  only  take 

place  subject  to  the  follow^ing  conditions : 
(a)  strict  administration,  and  (b)  an  increase 
in  the  activity  of  the  workers.  Now 
democracy  cannot  admit  of  compulsion  and 
would  have  nothing  with  which  to  replace 
profits,  risks  and  graduated  wages,  so  that 
there  would  be  no  initiative,  no  responsi- 
bility, no  interest  and  no  motive  for  action. 

(5)  Social     democracy     has     not    discovered    a 

method  of  apportioning  to  each  individual 
the  exact  value  of  his  social  labour. 

(6)  If  each  individual  be  remunerated  in  propor- 

tion to  the  social  value  of  his  labour, 
inequality  must  reappear. 

(7)  But  collectivists  at  the  same  time  promise  a 

distribution  of  products  according  to  require- 
ments. This  is  contradictory,  but  only 
one  thing  could  be  more  impracticable,  that 
is  to  declare  all  requirements  to  be  equal. 

(8)  Democratic    collectivism    claims    to    abolish 

"the  exploitation  of  man  by  man,"  but  the 
collectivist  dispeiisation  would  involve  the 
organisation  of  the  exploitation  of  labour  as 
distributed  by  the  agents  of  the  party  in 
power,  without  recourse  to  any  remedy  for 
its  abuse  than  to  overthrow  it.  In  proceed- 
ing to  the  control  of  the  hours  of  labour,  in 
fixing  the  normal  quantities  of  products,  in 
reducing  complex  to  simple  labour  by  a 
method  of  calculation,  the  triumphant  para- 
sites of  Socialism  would  set  about  their 
work  in  a  spirit  so  far  removed  from  one  of 


IMPOSSIBILITY  OF  COLLECTIVISM  263 

fraternity  as  to  make  Marx'  vampire  capital 
assume  a  highly  respectable  appearance. 
(9)  Collectivism   claims   to   abolish   over-produc- 
tion and  want,  but  theorists  will  not  explain 
how  they  propose  to  prevent  good  or  bad 
harvests  in  the  vineyards,  the  orchards,  the 
corn-fields,  etc. 
Schoeffle's  conclusion  is:  "Democratic  collectiv- 
ism is  impossible  and  is  unable  to  realise  a  single 
one  of  its  economic  promises." 


5  > 


BOOK     VIII 


THE    ACTUAL    CLASS    WAR 


CHAPTER  I 

Strikes  and  Trade  Unions 

i.     Economic  character  of  the  strike. 

ii.     Deviation  from  the  normal  exercise  of  the  right  to 

strike — Violence  as  a  practical  means  of  success — 

Weakness  of  the  Government  and  of  employers — 

Amnesty — Strike  tactics, 
iii.    Privileges    of    Trade    Unions    in    France    in    the 

pursuit  of   illicit  objects — Legal   domination  of  the 

Trade  Unions  in  England. 
iv.     Officials   and   teachers — Offices   are   not  created   for 

them,  but  for  the  public  which  pays  them. 

The  class  war  manifests  itself  in  actual 
practice  in  the  shape  of  partial  strikes,  in  anticipa- 
tion of  the  general  strike  which  is  to  force  bourgeois 
society  to  capitulate.^ 

I 

1  think  it  may  be  useful  to  recall  certain  elemen- 
tary notions  relative  to  strikes.  The  strike  is  an 
economic  phenomenon,  depending  upon  the  follow- 
ing principles  :  — 

(i).     An  individual  has  the  right  to  refuse  to 
continue  supplying  an  enterprise  with  his 
labour,  just  as  an  enterprise  has  the  right 
to  dismiss  a  workman. 
(2).     If  a  workman  has  this  right,  ten,  a  hun- 
dred,  a  thousand,   or  ten   thousand   have 
the  right  to  act  in  the  same  manner. 
(3).     A  strike  is  only  legal  if  the  strikers  have 
observed    the    obligation    to    give    proper 
notices.     Otherwise  they  are  liable  to  be 
prosecuted  and  to  pay  damages. 
(4).     From    the   day   on   which    strikers    have 
broken   their  contract  of   labfjur  thev  are 
free,    but    the    establishment    which    they 

1  Yves  Guyot,  "La  Tyrannic  socialiete"  (1893)— "Les  Prin- 
ciper.  (Ic  89  ct  le  '^ocialisme"  (1894)— "La  Comedie  socialiste" 
(1897)— "Les   Conflits  de  travail  et  leur  solution"   (1903). 


268  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

have  left  is  equally  released  from  all 
obligations  with  regard  to  them.  From 
the  day  on  which  strikers  go  out  on  strike, 
they  forfeit  all  the  advantages  acquired  by 
them  in  respect  of  grades,  gradual 
increases  of  wages  and  superannuation 
allowances. 
These  are  the  economic  and  judicial  principles 
upon  which  the  normal  right  to  strike  is  based. 

II 

The  normal  exercise  of  the  right  to  strike  has 
been  subjected  to  the  following  deviations  : 

The  strikers  consider  that  the  obligation  to  give 
notice  ought  to  be  observed  by  the  employer,  but 
not  by  the  wage-earner,  the  sudden  interruption  of 
labour  being,  for  the  latter,  involved  in  the  right 
to  strike.  He  considers  that  by  taking  the  em- 
ployer by  surprise  he  is  performing  an  act  of  legiti- 
mate warfare ;  for  he  has  been  told,  and  believes, 
that  the  right  to  strike  is  not  the  pacific  exercise  of 
the  right  to  break  a  contract  of  labour,  but  a  fight 
— a  conviction  which  has  been  encouraged  by  the 
weakness  of  several  governments.  Strike  leaders 
have  sufficient  perspicacity  to  take  into  account  the 
fact  that  deputies  like  to  give  way  to  sentiment, 
that  ministers  dread  the  accusation  of  shedding  the 
blood  of  the  people,  and  that  prefects  are  afraid  of 
being  made  scapegoats  in  the  event  of  anything 
untoward  occurring,  and  they  redouble  their  provo- 
cations accordingly.  The  unhappy  police  are 
expected  to  maintain  order,  but  upon  condition  of 
doing  nothing  of  what  is  necessary  in  order  to 
effect  this  object. 

Troops  are  sent  to  preserve  order,  but  are  kept 
in  concealment,  and,  although  the  military  regula- 
tions forbidding  them  to  allow  themselves  to  be 
disarmed  are  not  repealed,  both  officers  and  privates 
know  that  they  must  sufTer  in  silence  and  without 
a  murmur.     A  series  of  experiments  has  convinced 


STRIKES  AND  TRADE  UNIONS      269 

the  strike  leaders  that  everything  is  permitted  to 
them  :  if  they  commit  offences  or  crimes  in  con- 
nection with  a  strike,  they  have  the  benefit  of  all 
kinds  of  extenuating  circumstances.  They  fully 
appreciate  their  position,  and  are  able  to  exhibit 
themselves  as  conquerors  and  to  inspire  the  work- 
men with  legitimate  confidence,  seeing  that  their 
tactics  and  proceedings  are  justified  bv  success.  If 
the  government  be  obliged  to  institute  a  few  prose- 
cutions, an  amnesty  intervenes  to  stultify  their 
results.  The  victims  of  the  prosecutions  know 
that  repression  is  more  apparent  than  real,  and 
openly  proclaim  their  knowledge. 

Pathetic  speeches,  appeals  to  conciliation,  and  all 
the  vague  and  honeyed  sentiments  which  have 
emanated  from  the  platform  during  the  last  twenty- 
five  years  with  respect  to  every  strike  of  the 
slightest  importance,  have  ended,  as  was  easily 
foreseen,  and  as  I  have  always  said  they  would,  in 
putting  premiums  upon  violence,  in  organising 
the  aggressive  tactics  of  the  strike  leaders  and  in 
elevating  those  tactics,  through  the  agency  of  rlie 
leaders  of  the  General  Confederation  of  Labour,  to 
the  dignity  of  a  system. 

Every  time  that  the  elementary  principles  of  law 
are  lost  sight  of,  similar  results  are  arrived  at. 
Those  who,  at  the  present  time,  give  wav  to  such 
weakness,  are  applauded  as  good  and  sympathetic 
people.  In  point  of  fact,  thev  are  playing  the 
game  of  resolute  men  who  derive  their  principal 
strength  from  the  mildness  of  others,  and  they  are 
not  entirely  exempt  from  responsibility  for  the 
brutality,  pillage  and  sanguinarv  encounters  which 
have  characterised  certain  strikes.  If  the  Govern- 
ment had  always  done  its  duty,  the  General 
Confederation  of  Labour  would  not  be  a  powder, 
and  its  leaders  would  not  be  able  to  talk  of  a 
general  strike  and  of  the  right  to  damage  industrial 
property  and  plant  with  the  cool  impertinence  in 
which  they  indulge  themselves. 


270  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

III. 

In  France  they  all  seem  of  opinion  that  the  law 
relating  to  trade  unions  confers  complete  immunity 
upon  leaders  and  members  alike.  While  the 
English  Trade  Unions  Act  of  187 1  is  based  upon 
the  principle  that  a  union  can  only  exist  on 
condition  of  being  registered  and  of  submitting  to 
certain  obligations  as  regards  publicity,  the 
Unions  are  under  no  restriction  except  that  of 
making  a  declaration  by  two  of  their  members. 
Once  this  declaration  is  made,  they  are  free,  and 
there  is  no  existing  method  of  controlling  them. 
They  are  under  no  obligation,  moral  or  material, 
to  account  for  their  proceedings.  The  Law 
of  1884  does  not  contain  the  article  ('?)  of  the  Law 
of  looi  restricting  the  contract  of  association, 
which  enacts  that  "every  association  founded  for 
an  illicit  reason  or  in  view  of  an  illicit  object,  con- 
trary to  law  and  good  morals,  or  the  object  of 
which  may  be  to  injure  the  national  territory  or  the 
Republican  form  of  government  is  void  and  of  no 
effect."  In  point  of  fact  the  trades  union  is  an 
anarchist  association,  carrying  on  its  business  in 
accordance  with  the  views  of  those  who  conduct  it, 
and  those  who  do  not  approve  of  the  conduct  of 
those  who  administer  it,  have  onlv  one  means  of 
shewing  their  disapprobation,  namely,  that  to 
withdraw. 

The  English  Trade  Unions  are  obliged  to 
furnish  a  statement  as  to  their  property  and  the 
purposes  for  which  their  funds  are  applicable,  the 
conditions  under  which  auA*  member  mav  become 
entitled  to  anv  benefit  assured  therebv,  and  the  fines 
and  forfeitures  to  be  imposed,  and  the  provision 
for  appointment  of  a  general  committee  of 
management,  and  for  the  investment  of  funds,  and 
for  an  annual  or  periodical  audit  of  accotrnts.^ 
Everv   registered   Trade   Union    must   transmit   to 

1  Trade  Union  Act.  1871.  Sched.  i. 


STRIKES  AND  TRADE  UNIONS      271 

the  Registrar,  on  or  before  June  ist  of  every  year, 
a  general  statement  of  all  its  financial  operations.^ 
Every  member  is  entitled  to  receive  a  copy  of  such 
general  statement  without  payment. ^  The  property 
of  Trade  Unions  is  vested  in  trustees  who  are 
responsible  for  its  proper  administration  and  are 
liable  to  be  prosecuted  for  malversation  or  mis- 
appropriation of  funds  entrusted  to  them.^ 

The  Act  of  1 87 1  was  completed  in  1875  by  the 
Conspiracy  and  Protection  of  Propertv  Act,  which 
provides  that  :  — 

(Section  4).  "When  a  person  employed  by  a 
municipal  authority,  or  by  any  company  or  contrac- 
tor upon  whom  is  imposed  by  Act  of  Parliament  the 
duty,  or  who  have  otherwise  assumed  the  duty  of 
supplying  any  city,  borough,  town  or  place,  or  any 
part  thereof,  with  gas  or  water,  wilfully  and 
maliciously  breaks  a  contract  of  service  with  that 
authority,  or  company,  or  contractor,  knowing,  or 
having  reasonable  cause  to  believe,  that  the  probable 
consequences  of  his  so  doing,  either  alone  or  in  con- 
bination  with  others,  will  be  to  deprive  the 
inhabitants  of  that  city,  borough,  town,  place,  or 
part,  wholly  or  to  a  great  extent  of  their  supply  of 
gas  or  water,  he  shall  on  conviction  .  or  on 

indictment  ...  be  liable  to  pay  a  penalty  not 
exceeding  twenty  pounds  or  to  be  imprisoned  for  a 
term  not  exceeding  three  months,  with  or  without 
hard  labour     .     .     ." 

(Section  5).  "When  any  person  wilfully  and 
maliciously  breaks  a  contract  of  service  or  of  hiring 
knowing,  or  having  reasonable  cause  to  believe,  that 
the  probable  consequences  of  his  so  doing,  either 
alone  or  in  combination  with  others,  will  be  to  en- 
danger human  life,  or  cause  serious  bodily  injury,  or 
to  expose  valuable  property,  whether  real  or  per- 
sonal, to  destruction  or  serious  injury,  he  shall  on 
conviction  or  on  indictment     ...     be 

1  Ibid,  §16.     2  Ibid.     3  Ibid,  §8. 


272  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

liable  either  to  pay  a  penalty  not  exceeding  twenty 
pounds,  or  to  be  imprisoned  for  a  term  not  exceed- 
ing three  months,  with  or  without  hard  labour." 

It  is  evident  that  the  strike  of  Paris  electricians 
was  intended  to  injure  public  order;  consequently 
it  had  not  the  economic  character  of  an  ordinary 
strike.  It  is  clear  that  the  strikes  of  persons  em- 
ployed in  the  supply  of  food  and  upon  railways  or 
in  gasworks,  with  which  we  are  threatened,  are 
not  strikes  of  an  economic,  but  of  a  political  order. 
The  leaders  of  these  strikes  put  into  practice  the 
theory  of  violence  as  set  forth  bv  M.  Georges  Sorel. 
Their  object  is  to  frighten  the  bourgeoisie  and 
thereby  to  dominate  the  public  services.  The  more 
these  are  disorganised,  the  easier  this  operation 
becomes.^ 

IV. 

The  leaders  of  that  section  of  the  Socialist  move- 
ment which  operates  by  "direct  action"  have 
mana?uvred  with  great  skill.  They  have  penetrated 
among  the  instructors  at  the  "Ecoles  Normales," 
who,  after  mastering  certain  manuals  without 
testing  the  assertions  contained  in  them  in  the 
light  of  facts,  are  admirably  prepared  for  the 
reception  of  a  few  complementary  formulae,  com- 
posed of  a  medley  of  Socialist  and  anarchist 
principles.  They  have  also  attempted  to  attack 
the  army,  and  we  now  know  how  far  they  have 
penetrated. 

The  example  of  the  instructors  at  the  "Ecoles 
Normales,"  encouraged  the  strike  of  post  office 
employees.  We  see  various  associations  of  officials 
in  agitation  who,  under  whatever  name  they  go, 
give  evidence  of  a  movement  which,  unless  it  be 
checked,  will  lead  us  to  the  administrative  and 
political  dissolution  of  this  country. 

As  a  first  and  simple  measure,  the  Government 

1  "Reflexions   Biir  la   violence,"    6«e  infra,  chap.  ix. 


STRIKES  AND  TRADE  UNIONS      273 

should  call  the  attention  of  all  its  employees  clearly 

to  the  following  principles  :  — 

(i)  At  the  moment  when  they  obtain  an  employ, 
ment  in  the  public  service,  they  know  its 
advantages  and  its  burdens.  If  the  condi- 
tions do  not  suit  them,  they  can  resign. 
The  State  does  not  retain  them  by  force, 
and  there  is  no  lack  of  substitutes. 

(2)  If    they    go    out    on    strike,    they    commit    a 

breach  of  the  contract  of  service,  thereby 
forfeiting  all  the  advantages  thev  have 
obtained,  including  their  right  to  a  pension. 

(3)  If  thev  adopt  an  attitude  of  a  nature  calcu- 

lated to  compromise  the  service  with  which 
they  are  entrusted,  it  is  impossible  for  them 
(o  continue  in  that  service.  They  exclude 
themselves  from  it  by  their  own  act. 
What  really  matters  is  that  a  similar  spirit  should 
have  penetrated  into  the  government  and  the 
administration ;  the  audacity  of  certain  teachers 
and  emplovees  is  derived  from  the  fact  that  they 
reckon  upon  support  in  Parliament,  and  upon  the 
hesitation  of  ministers  at  certain  times.  If  they 
were  convinced  that  every  grave  infraction  of 
discipline  and  of  professional  dutv  would  be 
repressed,  without  passion  but  also  without  weak- 
ness, the  handbill  of  the  Central  Committee  would 
not  be  displayed  on  walls  and  in  the  newspapers, 
and  we  should  not  have  been  treated  to  the  inter- 
views with  M.  Negre  and  his  associates.  But  these 
manifestations  are  instructive,  because  they  prove 
that  employees,  paid  by  the  taxpavers,  place  them- 
selves in  opposition  to  them  in  order  to  raise  the 
net  cost  of  the  services  which  they  perform,  and 
that,  instead  of  considering  themselves  as  entrusted 
with  a  mission,  they  imagine  that  administration 
is  an  end  in  itself,  instituted  for  their  own  particular 
benefit. 

If  there  is  a  post  office,  its  duty  is  to  secure  that 
my  correspondence  is  efficiently    dealt    with    and 

s 


274  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

not  the  convenience  of  the  junior  postman.  The 
post  office  is  not  organised  for  them,  but  for  me, 
who  pav  for  it ;  and  if  they  are  dissatisfied,  let 
them  give  up  the  salaries  with  which  I,  as  a  tax- 
payer, am  obliged  to  supply  them. 


CHAPTER   II 

The  Sovereignty  of  the  Strh^ers 

Tyranny  of  strikers — Fressenville — Montlvi9on — Mines  of 
the  Pas-de-Calais,  according  to  M.  Clemenceau— 
Necessity  for  armed  force — Orders  to  police  and 
military — Claim  to  monopoly  of  labour  during  a 
strike. 

i.  Strikers  in  a  particular  locality  claim  to  coerce 
all  workmen  belonging  to  that  locality  into  a 
strike,  and  to  forbid  others  who  are  strangers 
to   their  organisation   to  replace  them. 

ii.  They  imagine  that  the  existence  of  a  strike 
hands  over  to  them  the  government  ui  the 
country. 

iii.  The  criminal  elements  of  the  population  inter- 
mingle with  the  strikers,  and  lead  them  to 
the  worst  excesses. 

Every  government  is  under  an  obligation,  under 
pain  of  abdication,  to  assure  a  minimum  of  security 
and  to  safeguard  at  least  the  appearance  of  free- 
dom of  labour.  It  cannot  permit  incitement 
during  every  strike  to  acts  of  incendiarism  and 
pillage  such  as  were  witnessed  at  Fressenville  on 
April  nth,  1906.  It  therefore  emplovs  police  and 
troops  and  has  to  proceed  to  arrest  a  few  impru- 
dently   violent    spirits.       Thereupon     those    who 


SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  STRIKERS  275 

sympathise  with  the  strikers  immediately  say  what 
the  supporters  of  the  Sisters  of  the  Convent  of  vSt. 
Esprit  said,  and  characterise  their  acts  as  the 
'•provocations  of  the  Government."  A  few  recent 
examples  will  prove  the  truth  of  these  assertions.^ 

From  April  6th  to  May  21st  the  town  of 
Montlu(;on  was  in  the  hands  of  a  small  bodv  of 
strike  leaders  who,  thanks  to  the  cowardice  of  the 
authorities  charg^ed  with  the  dutv  of  ensuring 
order,  terrorised  the  bulk  of  the  population  and 
interrupted  work  from  April  30th.  A  force  of 
soldiers  was  despatched,  but  was  shut  up  in  the 
factories;  the  Labour  Exchange  ("Bourse  du 
Travail")  was  allowed  to  order  the  tradesmen  and 
proprietors  of  cafes  and  restaurants  to  close  their 
establishments  on  pain  of  pillage  and  destruction. 
On  the  following  dav,  patrols  of  strikers  were 
allowed  to  stop  the  workmen  or  to  refuse  to  allow 
them  to  proceed  without  permits,  for  which  they 
were  obliged  to  pav.  The  leaders  felt  themselves 
to  be  masters  of  the  situation  to  such  an  extent 
that  thev  put  up  tents,  which  thev  furnished  and 
heated  in  front  of  the  establishments  which  they 
placed  under  an  interdict. 

M.  Clemenceau,  in  his  speech  at  Lvons  in  April, 
1906,  gave  a  description  of  the  acts  of  violence 
which  were  being  perpetrated  at  the  same  moment 
in  the  mines  of  the  Pas-de-Calais,  in  the  following 
words  :  — 

"Can  they  tell  me  that  to  ransack  the  houses  of 
the  workers,  to  pillage  farms  and  markets,  to  drive 
women  and  children  from  their  homes,  to  drag  into 
the  public  square  a  wretched  woman,  with  tattered 
garments,  whose  only  crime  is  to  be  the  wife  of  a 
man  who  remains  at  work,  to  seize  miners  on  their 
way  home  from  a  mine  and  make  them  carry  insult- 
ing placards,  to  force  them  to  their  knees  with  blows 
and  constrain  them  to  ask  for  pardon  for  having 

1  Revue    Interntitioiiale   du  commerce    de  I'induetrie  et   de  la 
banque,  30  juin,   1906. 


276  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

worked,    and    join   the  ranks    of    idlers    for    their 

crime — can  they  tell  me  that  these  are  acts  which  a 

Government  is  unable  to  repress  without  denouncing 

itself  as  a  Government  of  reactionaries?" 

M.    Clemenceau    had    often    reproached    various 

Ministers  with  having  sent  troops  to  the  scenes  of 

strikes.       He  was  himself  obliged  to  send  60,000 

men  to  the  Pas-de-Calais  and  the  Nord. 

But  when  the  mob  sees  ofiPicers,  privates  and 
police  resigning  themselves  to  insults  and  to 
threats,  it  proceeds  to  assault  them,  and  when  it  is 
impossible  to  order  military  and  police  to  submit 
to  be  disarmed,  wounded  and  killed  without  resist- 
ance, the  result  is  a  number  of  casualties. 

The  Socialists  have  introduced  a  new  theory  as 
regards  strikes.  In  connection  with  the  dock 
strike  at  Marseilles,  M.  Jaures  said,  on  July  5th, 
1904  :  — 

"We,  as  Socialists,  have  always  proclaimed  that  a 
strike  suspends,  but  does  not  put  an  end  to,  the  con- 
tract of  labour  ;  that  a  relationship,  a  bond,  subsists 
between  an  enterprise  and  its  workmen,  even  when 
they  are  on  strike,  such  as  prevents  its  proprietor 
from  calling  in  other  workmen  in  the  place  of  those 
with  whom  it  is  his  duty  to  negotiate,  except  by  a 
veritable  abuse  of  power." 
According  to  this  theory,   the  wage-earners  are 
entitled    to    stop    work,    but    the    employer    must 
consider    them    as    irremovable.      They    have    left 
the  work  which  it  was  their  duty  to  perform  ;  their 
employer  remains  permanently  bound  to  them,  the 
work  which  he  requires  remains  their  property  and 
he  has  no  right  to  give  it  to  others.     Thus  a  trader, 
A,   may  refuse  to  sell  a  particular  commodity  at 
a  price,  X.     The  would-be  purchaser  is  not  to  have 
the  right  to  buy  the  same  article  at  a  lower  price 
from  B. 

If  the  employer  is  unable  to  satisfy  the  require- 
ments of  his  w^orkmen  on  strike,  and  if  he  be 
permanently  bound  to  them,  he  has  but  one 
resource — to  close  his  works.     Would  M.  Jaures, 


SOVEREIGNTY  OF  THE  STRIKERS  277 

in  such  a  case,  consider  that  the  workmen  have  a 
perpetual  monopoly  of  the  work  which  is  not  to  be 
carried  out  there  ? 

This  theory  of  the  law  was  adopted  by  the  com- 
mittee which  proposed  the  draft  law  relating  to  the 
contract  of  labour  introduced  by  ^1.  Doimiergue 
on  July  2nd,  1906,  and  adopted  by  him.  The 
Rheims  "Conseil  de  Prudhommes"  has  followed  an 
example  derived  from  such  high  authority.^ 

Some  new  legislators  ^^•ill  be  logical  and  propose 
that  workmen  be  paid  wages  during  a  strike  or 
that  they  should  at  all  events  draw  sums  by  w^ay 
of  indemnity  for  the  stoppage  of  work,  for  if  they 
are  out  of  work,  this  is  due  to  the  ill-will  and 
stupidity  of  the  employer,  and  must  be  taken  into 
account  accordingly. 


1  See  I'Le  Temps,"  March  28th,  1907.  The  "Conseil  de  Prudf- 
hommes"  is  a  tribunal  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  betweeu 
employers  and  employees. 


CHAPTER    III 

The  Nation  at  the  Service  of  the  Strikers 

i.  Weakness  as  regards  strikers — Post  office  employees 
— M.  Maujau's  theory — The  taxpayer  supports  the 
strikers — Arbitration— Weakness  of  the  magistracy 
— Notice. 

ii.  Subsidising  strikes — First  demand  for  a  subsidy  in 
1884 — My  arguments  in  opposition. 

iii.     Arbitration  by  an  independent  third  party. 

iv.     The  strike  terror. 

V.     Above  the  law. 

I. 

The  development  of  crimes  and  offences  committed 
in  connexion  with  strikes  is  attributable  to  the 
weakness  of  the  public  authorities. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  strike  of  post  oflice  assist- 
ants a  number  of  postmen  were  cashiered.  On  June 
23rd,  1906,  some  Deputies  took  steps  before  the 
President  of  the  Cabinet  with  a  view  to  their  being 
reinstated.  The  Prime  Minister  relied  upon  the 
necessity  of  discipline,  whereupon  M.  Maujan  dis- 
played a  singular  conception  of  government  by 
exclaiming  that  "the  representatives  of  the  nation 
can  grant  what  the  Ministers  withhold."  All  the 
postmen,  including  a  number  who  possessed  all 
the  qualities  which  entitled  them  to  be  turned  out, 
were  reinstated,  so  that  the  post  office  employees 
formed  the  conviction  that  an  undesirable  em- 
ployee, burdened  with  charges  of  the  gravest  kind, 
has  only  to  place  himself  at  the  head  of  a 
movement,  whereupon  he  becomes  sacrosanct,  no 
one  can  touch  him,  and  he  will  give  orders  instead 
of  receiving  them.  Employees  of  this  kind  take 
up  the  position  of  those  Chinese  rascals  who 
become  converted  to  Christianity  in  order  to 
obtain  the  protection  of  the  missions.  They  can 
commit  crimes  and  offences  with  impunity,  and  if 
a  Chinese  magistrate  interferes  with  them,  they 
cry  out  that  they  are  being  persecuted. 


SERVICE   OF  THE  STRIKERS       279 

II. 

During  the  strike  at  Fourgeres,  on  January  nth, 
1907,  M.  Betoulle  put  forward  a  demand  for  a 
subsidy  of  100,000  francs  for  the  strikers;  the 
iMinister  of  Labour  declared  that  the  Government 
recognised  the  urgency  of  the  motion,  and  M. 
Lefas,  the  Deputy  for  the  district,  gave  his 
support.  Assuming  the  number  of  workmen  to 
have  been  6,000,  this  would  only  have  amounted  to 
i6fr.  66  per  man  :  the  gravity  of  the  proposal  lies, 
not  in  the  amount  of  the  proposed  subsidy,  but  in 
the  principle  involved.  It  causes  the  intervention 
of  the  public  authority  in  favour  of  one  of  the 
parties  to  a  dispute,  increases  the  influence  of  the 
strikers,  and  engenders  in  them  illusions  of  a 
deceptive  nature. 

The  question  first  presented  itself  in  1884,  in  the 
Paris  Municipal  Council,  with  reference  to  the 
strike  at  Anzin,  upon  a  proposal  to  vote  a  subsidy 
of  10,000  francs.  I  (jpposed  it  and  obtained  its 
rejection  by  55  votes  against  20,  by  means  of 
arguments  which  I  venture  to  reproduce. 

M.  Yves  Guyot  :  I  entreat  you,  gentlemen,  to 
reject  this  proposal,  in  order  to  remain  faithful  to 
the  principles  of  political  liberty  from  the  economic 
point  of  view,  which  you  have  adopted  in  the 
Municipal  Council. 
M.  JOFFRIN  :  Not  I. 

M.  Yves  Guyot  :  If  you  now  intervene  between 
employers  and  workmen  you  will  give  the  lie  to  the 
principles  to  which  you  have  rallied.  Let  each  in- 
dividual intervene  individually  in  favour  of  the 
miners  and  do  what  he  chooses.  (Applause.) 

We  can  only  intervene  with  the  money  of  the 
taxpayers.  If  you  intervene  in  contracts  existing 
betv.'cen  particular  parties,  under  the  pretext  of  an 
existing  strike,  there  is  no  reason  why  you  should 
not  take  part  to-morrow  in  other  strikes,  and  con- 
tinue to  do  so  without  exception.  For  why  should 
you  withhold  your  concurrence  from  any  single  one 
of  them  ?     You  would  have   a  perpetual   interven- 


28o  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

tiou  of  the  Council  in  particular  agreements.  We 
can  no  more  subsidise  the  workmen  than  we  can 
subsidise  the  company 

You  are  asking  for  a  policy  of  repression  in 
advocating  the  intervention  of  the  City  of  Paris. 

Actuated  by  feelings  of  pity,  you  propose  a  sub- 
sidy of  10,000  francs.  What  are  you  doing?  You 
are  going  to  decoy  the  miners  and  engender  deceptive 
illusions  in  them  ;  you  are  going  to  induce  them  to 
believe  that  the  City  of  Paris  is  committing  itself  in 
their  favour. 

The  intervention  which  is  being  proposed  to  you 
to-day  is  a  disgraceful  one     ... 

If  I  were  to  adopt  this  policy,  I  should  not  be 
content  to  ask  for  10,000  francs,  for  when  these 
10,000  francs  are  exhausted,  what  are  you  going  to 
do?  If  you  want  to  adopt  an  effective  measure, 
decide  to  place  100,000  francs  weekly  at  the  disposal 
of  the  miners'  families. 

M.  JoFFRiN :  This  provision  would  be  rejected  in 
the  same  way  as  mine. 

M.  Yves  Guyot:  The  mine,  whatever  you  may 
allege,  constitutes  a  piece  of  individual  property, 
and  the  concession  at  Anzin  was  originally  granted 
to  a  number  of  private  individuals. 

They  talk  of  profits  realised.  It  would  seem  as 
though  some  Frenchmen  have  no  other  wish  than  to 
see  all  their  fellow-countrymen  ruined  in  all  their 
undertakings.  For  my  part  I  regret  that  there  is 
not  a  large  number  of  mining  companies  in  existence 
which  have  realised  the  same  amount  of  profits ;  this 
would  be  better  than  to  find  that  45  per  cent,  of  the 
concessions  are  not  being  worked,  as  stated  by  the 
Commission  of  Inquiry  of  1883. 

I  suggested  to  the  Municipal  Council  that,  to  be 
logical,  they  ought  to  open  a  special  account, 
entitled,  "Premiums  and  Encouragements  to 
Strikers,"  My  ironical  suggestion  has  been  real- 
ised. The  seventh  Municipal  Council  subsidised  no 
less  than  twenty  two  strikes.  It  gave  2,000  francs  to 
the  strike  of  match-makers,  who  are  in  the  employ 
of  the  State.     I  do  not  know  whether  the  Prefect 


SERVICE  OF   THE  STRIKERS       281 

approved  of  this  intervention  of  the  Municipal 
Council  against  the  Government.  On  July  iith, 
1891,  the  Council  had  voted  a  grant  of  10,000  frs. 
to  the  employees  of  the  Orleans  Railway,  who  were 
on  strike,  and  on  July  24th  a  grant  of  20,000  francs 
to  the  railway  employees  generally.  These  two 
resolutions  were  overruled,  but  the  administration 
was  not  equally  firm  in  all  cases.  It  compromised 
by  only  distributing  funds  to  the  strikers'  families 
after  the  strike  was  over;  as  though,  by  this 
hypocritical  expedient,  they  could  avoid  giving 
moral  and  material  support  to  the  strike. 

So  clearly  was  it  the  desire  of  the  Municipal 
Council  to  assist  the  strikers  that  M.  Mesureur,  the 
proposer  of  the  subsidy  for  the  strike  at  Decaze- 
ville,  which  had  been  preceded  by  the  assassination 
of  M.  Watrin,  said  in  the  Municipal  Council, 
"Something  more  is  wanted  than  a  platonic  mani- 
festation of  sympathy  with  the  miners.  What  is 
wanted  is  active  help." 

While  the  Municipal  Council  was  thus  subsidis- 
ing strikes,  the  question  was  raised  for  the  first 
time  in  Parliament  on  November  25th,  1889.  M. 
Ferroul  introduced  a  proposal  intended  to  open  a 
fund  of  150,000  francs  for  the  assistance  of  the 
victims  of  the  strikes  in  the  Nord,  the  Pas-de- 
Calais,  and  at  Tours.  As  Minister  of  Public 
Works,  I  gave  the  same  reception  to  this  proposal 
as  I  had  given  five  years  previously  to  that  which 
had  been  put  before  the  Paris  Municipal  Council. 
When  I  said  that  "a  strike  is  a  voluntarv  act,"  I 
was  violently  interrupted  from  several  benches  on 
the  extreme  left.  But  I  asked  again  whether  we 
were  to  "make  a  Budget"  in  favour  of  strikes,  and 
whether  we  were  to  adopt  the  rule  of  the  "subsi- 
dising of  strikes  by  the  State."  The  proposal  was 
rejected  by  364  votes  to  117. 

The  principles  invoked  for  its  rejection  have  not 
altered,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  the 
time  when  the  subsidy  to  the  strikers  of  Foug^res 


282  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

was  proposed  to  be  taken  as  urgent,  no  one  recalled 
them. 

III. 

Strikers  ask  for  arbitration.  It  is  their  principal 
\\atchword.  Tliey  even  ask  lor  compulsory 
arbitration.  But  they  will  only  accept  it  on  terms 
favourable  to  themselves.  "The  trade  union  at 
Lens  will  decide  to-morrow  whether  the  miners 
are  to  give  way  or  whether  they  will  continue  the 
strike."  (November  8th,   1902). 

I  do  not  admit  that  an  independent  third  party 
can  regulate  the  relations  between  employers  and 
employed  :  he  is  not  responsible  for  the  termination 
of  contracts.  But  in  the  event  of  an  arbitration, 
work  should  be  resumed  simultaneously  with  the 
commencement  of  the  reference. 

All  the  successive  governments  since  1892  are  in 
part  responsible  fur  the  crimes  and  offences  com- 
mitted in  connection  with  the  strikes.  It  suffices 
for  a  strike  to  be  partially  apparent  for  them  to  feel 
themselves  in  danger,  and  rightly  so,  thanks  to 
the  idleness  of  the  public  and  to  the  ignorance  and 
cowardice  of  a  number  of  Deputies.  They  forget 
that  their  duty  is,  not  to  serve  the  interests  of  the 
strikers,  but  to  ensure  the  security  of  property  and 
of  persons. 

Naturally  officials  who  feel  that  they  are  not 
protected  by  their  departmental  chief  have  only  one 
preoccupation — to  avoid  "incidents."  If  one 
striker  were  killed,  this  might  mean  the  adminis- 
trative decease  of  the  Sub-Prefect.  His  only 
preoccupation  is  to  come  to  terms  with  the  strikers 
and  to  be  able  to  assure  the  place  Beauvau^  that  all 
is  for  the  best  "in  a  model  strike,"  as  M.  E. 
Combes  said  in  speaking  of  (he  agricultural  strikes 
in  the  South  of  France, 

On  May  3rd,  M.  Sarraut,  Under-Secretary  of 
State,  said    in    Paris,  he  "had    good    news    from 

1  Where  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior  ifi    eituated. 


SERVICE  OF   THE   STRIKERS       283 

Montlu(;on,  that  order  was  not  disturbed."  The 
strike  ended  on  May  21st.  What  punishment 
overtook  the  officials  who  sent  information  of  this 
character  to  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior?  And 
finally,  are  the  leaders  of  the  Labour  Exchange 
prosecuted  who  have  committed  the  offence  of 
suspending  traffic  in  a  town  and  of  usurping  all 
public  functions  ? 

It  appears  as  though  in  France  we  suppose  that 
the  courts  have  no  existence  when  there  is  a  ques- 
tion of  acts  done  during  a  strike,  and  that  the 
organisers  and  leaders  of  strikes  are  inviolable, 
and  ^\■e  see  the  rise  of  a  new  order  of  privileged 
persons,  above  the  law  and  outside  its  operation. 

The  magistrates  also  incur  their  share  of  the 
responsibility.  The  penal  code  strikes  with  greater 
severity  at  offences  committed  in  association  than 
at  those  committed  by  isolated  individuals.  But 
when  it  is  a  question  of  bands  of  strikers,  this 
aggravating  circumstance  becomes  an  extenuating 
one.  And  the  magistrates  seem  to  think  it  lawful 
that  persons  in  combination  should  threaten, 
strike  and  ill-use  men,  women,  and  girls  who  are 
guilty  of  wishing  to  work. 

How  are  the  magistrates  to  display  energy, 
when  they  stand  in  fear  of  the  weakness  of  the 
Ministry  in  the  Place  Vendome?  And  why  should 
they  display  energy?  Would  not  their  sentences 
be  set  aside  by  one  of  the  amnesties  which  appear 
with  such  regularity  that  they  can  have  no  other 
result  than  to  annihilate  justice?  Acts  committed 
during  strikes  and  in  connection  with  strikes  and 
always  included  in  such  amnesties.  Truly,  the 
leaders  of  strikers  would  make  a  great  mistake  if 
they  were  to  restrain  themselves. 


CHAPTER    IV 

The  Electricians'  Strike 

i.  Unforeseen  darkness — Ignorance  of  the  police — 
Possibility  of  replacing  electrical  workmen — Works 
left  unprotected — The  public  service — Causes  of  this 
strike — 800  electricians  against  the  Paris  Municipal 
Council — Legality  of  the  strike  according  to  M. 
Jaures. 

ii.  A  third  party  cannot  put  an  end  to  a  contract 
entered  into  by  two  other  parties. 

I. 

On  Friday,  March  8th,  1907,  shortly  after  five 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  it  was  observed  in  parts  of 
Paris  that  the  supply  of  electricity  had  failed.  Lifts 
stopped  suddenly,  cafes,  restaurants  and  a  portion 
of  some  of  the  great  streets  of  Paris,  to  say  nothing 
of  private  houses,  were  plunged  in  darkness. 

The  President  of  the  Council,  M.  Clemenceau, 
has  told  us  that  he  felt  the  same  surprise  as  the 
ordinary  passer-JDv  and  that  the  existence  of  the 
strike  was  only  revealed  to  him  by  the  extinction 
of  the  lights  in  his  study. 

How  is  this  possible  ?  We  have  a  formidable 
Prefecture  of  Police,  doubled  in  power  by  the 
detective  service,  and  despite  the  millions  which 
are  spent  upon  these  institutions  and  the  numbers 
of  agents  employed  by  them,  no  one  suspected  an 
act  which  had  been  determined  upon  overnight  at 
the  Labour  Exchange  and  had  been  the  object  of  a 
circular  addressed  in  the  morning  to  some 
hundreds  of  men.  Was  there  incapacity  or  com- 
plicity on  the  part  of  the  police  ?  This  is  the  first 
problem  to  suggest  itself. 

Paris  remained  in  darkness  during  the  Friday 
night.  No  effective  measures  were  taken  to  make 
the  generators  work.  M.  Jaures  complained  of 
M.  Clemenceau's  whims  in  sending  soldiers  to  re- 
place the  defaulting  electricians.    But  this  was  not 


THE   ELECTRICIANS'   STRIKE       285 

the  case;  not  a  single  soldier  had  been  sent  on  the 
Friday  evening,  and  it  was  on  that  evening  that 
they  ought  to  have  been  despatched  to  the 
generators,  which  ought  to  have  been  at  work  by 
eight  o'clock. 

The  majority  of  the  workmen  emploved  are  not 
men  with  technical  knowledge  whom  it  would  have 
been  difficult  to  replace ;  thev  are  merely  stokers, 
and  one  is  therefore  entitled  to  ask  why  the 
authorities  made  no  attempt  to  replace  them.  The 
answer  is  a  simple  one.  Thev  were  afraid  of  being 
attacked,  and  they  could  not  obtain  work- 
men unless  the  latter  felt  themselves  to  be 
protected.  Now,  were  the  electrical  works  pro- 
tected? "Were  thev  immediatelv  occupied  by 
troops?  The  night  between  the  Fridav  and  the 
Saturdav  remains  full  of  obscurity. 

In  the  discussion  which  took  place  on  March 
nth  between  M.  Jaur^s  and  M.  Clemenceau,  M. 
Jaur^s  declared  that  there  was  no  question  of  a 
public  service.  Nevertheless  in  the  strike  of  the 
Southern  Tramwavs,  the  strikers  relied  upon  the 
nublic  character  of  the  service  to  demand  the  for- 
feiture of  the  Companv's  concession.  M.  Taurus 
seems  to  think  that  there  can  be  no  public  service 
except  on  condition  that  the  State  or  the  Munici- 
palities carry  it  on  directlv.  He  confounds  the 
means  and  the  object. 

M.  Jaur^s,  who  is  a  doctor  of  philosophv,  is 
familiar  with  all  the  subtleties  of  the  schoolmen 
which  are  useful  for  giving  the  go-bv  to  questions 
of  difficulty. 

But  what  was  this  strike  all  about?  The 
strikers  w^anted  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the 
administration  and  the  Municipal  Council  in  order 
to  obtain  more  advantageous  conditions  of  wages 
and  of  pensions  from  the  holders  of  the  concessions 
who  employed  them.  Consequently  the  very 
motive  of    their    strike  implies    a    recognition    by 


286  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

them  of  the  character  of  the  service  in  which  they 
have  a  part  to  play. 

This  strike  at  the  same  time  shews  the  error 
committed  bv  the  administration  in  payinjE^  atten- 
tion to  questions  of  this  kind.  If  an  administration 
is  willing-  to  determine  the  wages  and  conditions 
of  labour  of  the  employees  of  a  company  which 
works  a  concession,  why  does  it  not  also  pay 
attention  to  the  prices  at  which  such  a  company 
ought  to  pay  for  its  coal,  machinery,  raw  material 
and  tools?  This  would  be  all  the  more  justifiable 
in  that,  bv  forcing  them  to  pay  higher  prices  for 
them,  it  would  g^ive  a  reason  to  the  miners, 
mechanics  and  other  workmen  employed  bv  the 
firms  which  supply  the  company  for  obtaining  an 
increase  of  wag^es. 

All  these  proposals  can  have  but  one  result — to 
make  the  taxpayer  pay  more  dearly  for  a  service 
of  a  public  nature;  and,  if  the  end  be  attained,  the 
result  implies  that  a  contribution  is  levied  upon 
everyone  for  the  benefit  of  a  small  body  of  wage- 
earners  who  become  a  privileged  class.  It  is  the 
organisation  of  privileg-es  for  the  benefit  of  a  few 
and  to  the  detriment  of  all,  while  democracy  must 
stand  for  equality,  and  imply  g^overnment  by  all. 

Thus  a  form  of  oligarchy  is  introduced,  and  this 
fact  alone  demonstrates  the  flagrant  contradiction 
which  exists  between  Socialism  and  Democracy. 
In  a  Democracy,  inasmuch  as  the  administration 
and  the  Government  represent  the  common  interest, 
it  is  not  for  them  to  trouble  themselves  with  the 
relations  between  the  holders  of  concessions  and 
their  employees;  they  need  have  one  preoccupation 
only — to  secure  a  supply  of  electricity  to  the 
Municipality  and  the  consumers  at  the  lowest 
possible  price.  The  Municipality  only  had  the 
right  to  interfere  in  the  fixing  of  this  price  in 
exchange  for  the  wayleaves  which  it  grants  over 
the  public  highways. 

Tn  his  interpellation  on  March   iith,   M.  Jaur^s 


THE   ELECTRICIANS'   STRIKE       287 

repeated  over  and  over  again  that  the  strike  was 
legal  and  that  its  organisers  had  respected  the  law. 
Is  this  so?  Did  thev  not  declare  the  strike  without 
a  moment's  notice?  Was  not  their  going  on 
strike  done  bv  surprise  ?  Vet  there  is  an  obliga- 
tion to  give  notice  in  the  electrical,  as  in  other 
industries.  They  paid  no  regard  to  it,  and 
consequently  did  not  respect  the  law  in  the  manner 
attributed  to  them  bv  M.  Jaur^s.  One  knows  who 
were  the  organisers  of  the  strike.  MINT.  Griffu- 
elhes,  Yvetot,  Passerieu,  and  some  others  proudly 
laid  claim  to  the  honour.  Thev  should  also  have 
borne  the  responsibilitv. 

The  holders  of  the  concessions  ought  to  have 
brought  actions  against  them  and  claimed 
damages.  They  did  not  do  so,  and  thereby  gave 
fresh  strength  to  the  organisers  of  "direct  action," 
since  the  latter  have  obtained  fresh  proof  that  thev 
can  with  impunitv  persist  in  practices  which,  far 
from  prejudicing  them,  increase  their  notorietv 
and  importance. 

But  emplovers  of  labour  and  traders,  among 
those  who  suffered  damage,  ought  to  have  brought 
actions  against  the  holders  of  the  concessions.  The 
latter  would  have  taken  refuge  in  a  plea  of  vis 
major,  but  would  have  been  ordered  to  institute 
proceedings  against  the  organisers  of  the  strike 
without  delav,  and  we  should  have  seen  what  relief 
(he  law  can  give. 

When  an  event  occurs  such  as  the  electricians' 
strikf^,  people  agitate  and  demand  fresh  legislation, 
and  Parliament  sometimes  doubles  the  number  of 
existing  laws  or  manufactures  bad  ones.  But  one 
ought  first  to  inquire  whether  legislation  cannot 
ffjrce  its  authors  to  incur  some  responsibilitv. 
Speaking  generallv,  il  is  not  the  laws  which  are 
wanting,  but  the  moral  energv  of  those  who  ought 
to  applv  them. 

In  this  crjunection,  the  General  Confederation  of 
Labour  supplies  a  remarkable  example.      It  knew 


288  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

how  to  act.  It  knew,  down  to  the  smallest  detail, 
how  to  lead  the  electricians,  but  manufacturers  and 
traders  also  have  trade  combinations.  What 
advantafje  did  they  take  of  the  fact?  They 
remained  passive,  and  the  General  Confederation 
of  Labour  was  able  to  justify  the  strike  by  saying, 
"We  had  only  to  act  in  order  to  obtain  what  we 
wanted.     Everyone  capitulated  before  us." 

If  the  law  be  insufficient,  it  must  be  amended. 

II. 

When  the  holder  of  a  concession  is  unable,  in 
accordance  with  his  contract,  to  put  an  end  to  a 
contract  of  service,  it  is  impossible  to  admit  that 
third  parties  may  do  so.  The  contract  would  no 
longer  depend  upon  the  will  of  the  contracting 
parties,  but  upon  persons  who  are  not  parties  to 
it  and  who  have  so  far  been  declared  free  from 
responsibility  for  an  act  which  the  parties  interested 
could  not  do  themselves. 


CHAPTER    V 

The  Tyranny  of  Minorities 

At  the  general  expense — Municipal  workmen — Gas- 
workers — 10,600  privileged  workmen  at  the  expense 
of  564,000  others — A  minority  imposing  its  will  upon 
all — Particular  as  opposed  to  common  interest. 

Im  connection  with  the  electricians'  strike  I  called 
attention  to  the  fact  that  the  class  struggle  was 
opposed  to  the  conception  of  democracy.  The 
object  of  democracy  is  liberty  and  equality ;  every 
individual  should  be  free  and  possessed  of  equal 
rights.  There  should  be  no  castes  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  privileges  and  able  to  exploit  others  for 
their  own  advantage. 

Now,  the  object  of  the  electricians'  strike,  the 
threatened  strikes  of  workmen  employed  in  other 
public  services  and  finally  the  trade  combinations  of 
officials  and  instructors,  is  to  make  everyone  pay 
for  advantages  accorded  to  a  few.  The  workmen 
employed  in  municipal  services  enjoy  a  privileged 
position  under  the  pretence  that  the  City  of  Paris 
ought,  like  the  State,  to  be  a  model  employer,  with 
this  difference,  that  its  resources  are  derived,  not 
from  its  capital,  but  from  the  ratepayers.  This 
privileged  position  extends  to  workmen  employed 
m  municipal  concessions.  The  favourable  condi- 
tions accorded  to  the  gasworkers  cost  the  consumers 
of  Paris  four  millions  of  francs.  I  do  not  yet  know 
the  cost  of  the  concessions  made  to  the  electricians. 
But  the  figures  are  of  less  importance  than  the 
principle.  The  workmen  who  enjoy  these  advant- 
ages are  10,600  in  number,  out  of  a  total  of  575,000. 
This  proves  their  audacity,  but  there  should  be 
some  margin  between  audacity  and  success. 

Now  the  564,400  are  ratepayers.  They  pay  the 
octroi  for  their  meat,  fish,  butter  and  coal.  It  is 
to  their  interest  to  have  public  services  for  their 

T 


290  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

money,  that  is  to  have  them  at  the  lowest  possible 
price,  and  the  workmen  of  the  City  of  Paris  and 
of  the  Municipal  Services  make  them  pay  more 
than  the  current  rate  of  wages  would  require.  The 
564,000  workmen  are  mostly  in  receipt  of  less 
wages  than  those  who  are  employed  in  the  Muni- 
cipal services,  they  are  not  entitled  to  pensions  or 
leave;  and  have  not  the  certainty  of  employment 
on  every  day  of  the  year.  What  is  the  result? 
The  workmen  who  are  less  well-paid  than  those 
who  have  succeeded  in  enlisting  in  one  of  the 
Municipal  services,  pay  for  them.  And  these, 
who  form  only  a  small  minority  of  less  than  two 
per  cent.,  claim  to  dictate  to  the  public  authorities 
and  send  forth  this  injunction — "If  you  do  not 
obey,  we  will  throw  everything  into  confusion." 

Evidence  of  this  has  been  given  by  the  workmen 
in  the  electric  generating  stations,  following  the 
omnibus  employees,  the  merchant  seamen  liable 
to  serve  in  the  navy,  the  tramway  employees  and 
others.  That  a  combination  of  interested  persons 
should  attempt,  by  the  suspension  of  a  public  ser- 
vice, to  impose  its  will  upon  a  deliberative  body 
and  an  administration  representing  the  general  in- 
terests of  the  community  is  an  intolerable  form  of 
tyranny.  It  is  the  claim  of  a  minority  to  dominate 
the  majority.  By  having  recourse  to  the  procedure 
which  they  have  employed,  the  strikers  call  atten- 
tion to  the  antagonism  existing  between  their  own 
particular  interest  and  that  of  the  community  at 
large. 

Where  the  public  only  suffers  from  indirect 
reverberations,  it  does  not  always  notice  them ;  but 
when  it  is  directly  affected,  it  understands  that,  as 
between  itself  and  the  striker,  there  is  not  com- 
munity, but  opposition  of  interests. 

It  is  a  good  thing  that  this  should  be  from  time 
to  time    demonstrated,   since  there    are    so   many 


THE  TYRANNY  OF  MINORITIES    291 

people  who  are  unwilling  to  learn  from  experience 
except  it  be  at  their  own  expense.  The  post  office 
employees  had  already  given  an  object-lesson,  the 
electricians  repeated  it,  and  the  General  Confedera- 
tion of  Labour  is  giving  a  geneial  idea  of  the 
delights  to  be  provided  by  the  general  strike  which 
they  are  announcing  and  preparing.  They  are 
organising  the  tyranny  of  minorities. 


CHAPTER    VI 

Destruction  of  Property  and  Plant  and  the 
General  Strike 
Theory    of    "Sabotage"— The    general    strike— Common 
ownership  of  works — Direct  action. 

The  leaders  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour  have 
openly  confessed  their  intentions  in  interviews  pub- 
lished by  the  "Matin"  newspaper. 

M.  Pataud,  general  secretary  of  the  trade  union 
of  employees  in  electrical  works,  says  :  — 

"If  there  is  no  right  to  strike  without  the  right  to 
destroy  industrial  property  and  plant  (/e  sabotage) 
we  are  Sfoins  to  exercise  it.  And  the  Government 
alone  will  bear  the  responsibility,  as  it  assumes  the 
responsibility  for  our  anti-militarism." 
M.  Merrheim,  a  member  of  the  General  Con- 
federation of  Labour,  says:  — 

"Yesterday's  surprise  is  only  the  prelude  to  to- 
morrow's. We  are  going  to  work  every  day  with 
greater  fierceness  to  prepare  that  to-morrow,  and 
neither  a  Clemenceau,  a  Briand,  still  less  a 
Viviani  will  prevent  that  'to-morrow'  from  being 
what  we  wish. 

"No  more  laughter,  exploiters  and  capitalists  ;  the 
surprise  packet  is  open,  and  will  only  close  in  order 
the  more  completely  to  swallow  you  up!" 
M.  Yvetot,  general  secretary  of  the  Confedera- 
tion of  Labour^  says  :  — 

"If  they  had  not  obtained  immediate  satisfaction, 
the  gasworkers  would  have  joined  them,  by  way  of 
solidarity.  Paris  would  then  have  been  shrouded  in 
darkness.  Imagine  a  simultaneous  traffic-strike, 
and  everything  is  said.  Yesterday's  experience,  in 
the  light  of  these  observations,  supplies  the  sup- 
porters of  a  general  strike  with  a  formidable  argu- 
ment. A  general  strike  without  barricades  or 
bloodshed,  is  the  sure  and  all-powerful  arm  of  the 
revolution." 
M.  Bousquet,  secretary  of  the  trades  union  of 
persons  employed  in  the  provision  trades,  says:  — 


THE    GENERAL    STRIKE  293 

"Four  or  five  bodies  in  France  have  the  power  by 
themselves  of  preparing  a  revolution,  or  at  least  an 
economic  convulsion  attended  bv  enormous  conse- 
quences.  To  take  an  example.  Supposing  that  by  an 
understanding  among  the  proletariat,  the  possibility 
of  which  has  just  been  demonstrated,  the  lights  were 
to  go  out  in  the  greater  towns,  as  has  just  happened 
in  Paris ;  the  supply  of  gas  were  to  fail  ;  the  water 
were  to  give  out ;  and  the  telegraphs,  the  post  and 
telephones  were  to  cease  to  work,  how  would  the 
central  capitalist  Government  know  what  was  going 
on  in  the  provinces,  and  give  its  orders  ?  Further- 
more, if  the  food  supply  were  also  stopped,  what 
would  happen? 

"I  conclude  that  the  Government,  such  as  it  is,  is 
obliged  to  reckon  with  the  power  of  the  workmen, 
for  the  very  good  reason  that,  while  it  is  preoccupied 
with  an  economic  object,  there  are  people  who  see  a 
different  one — the  object  of  demolishing  capitalist 
society." 

M.  Griffuelhes,  of  the  General  Confederation  of 
Labour,  also  sees  a  presage  of  more  important 
events  in  the  electricians'  strike.  Like  AL  Merr- 
heim,  he  has  put  his  views  into  writing  :  — 

"The  conscious  act  of  the  electricians  enables  one 
to  deduce  an  identical  act  by  the  gas  workers,  finally 
disembarrassed  of  the  preoccupations  of  politicians, 
of  which  certain  individuals  take  advantage :  it  gives 
one  a  glimpse  of  the  day  when  the  post  office 
employees  shall  perform  a  labour  of  wisdom  of  a 
preventive  kind,  when  the  unhappy  slaves  of  the 
Metropolitan  shall  paralyse  its  traffic,  and  the  rail- 
way employees  shall  have  awakened  and  shall  stop 
the  engines  from  running.  The  day  that  sees  these 
crises  will  come,  whatever  be  the  present  conditions, 
just  as  the  day  came  which  saw  Paris  without  light 
or  electrical  power. 

"On  that  day,  our  bourgeois  will  experience 
'emotions'  of  a  more  intense  and  livelv  kind  than 
those  of  the  last  few  days." 

Another,  M.  Passerieu,  assistant  secretary  of  the 
electrical  trade  union,  says  :  — 


294  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

"But  are  we  not  joint  proprietors  in  M.  Sarbiaux' 
works?     Have   we   not   incorporated   our   labour   in 
them?    Here  is  wealth  which  we  have  assisted  in 
creating  and  developing;  we  want  our  share  of  it. 
If  the  soldiers  make  themselves  the  slaves  of  capital 
in  order  to  keep  our  lawful  portion  from  us,  they 
become   enemies  in   our   eyes.     So   much  the   worse 
for   them.     We   are   going   to   use   every   means   to 
prepare    for    the    equitable    distribution   of    wealth. 
And  'every  means'  is  'direct  action'  and  the  destruc- 
tion of  property.     When  the  workman  feels  himself 
tortured  by  hunger,  in  sight  of  the  wealth  which  he 
has  himself  produced,  he  meets  the  capitalists'  crimes 
with  just  reprisals,  or  rather  by  the  most  legitimate 
of  legitimate  defences." 
This   is   how   the   leaders   of   the   Confederation 
of  Labour  believe  that  the  destruction  of  property 
can  be  practised  with  impunity  and  that  when  it  is 
practised,  those  who  have  carried  it  out  will  have 
leisure  calmly  to  contemplate  its  effects. 

They  declare  that  they  are  preparing  "direct 
action"  and  a  "general  strike,"  and  they  believe 
that  "capitalist  .society"  is  bound  to  let  them  do 
so. 

A  little  later,  M.  Griffuelhes  gave  the  following 
indication  of  the  procedure  of  the  General  Con- 
federation of  Labour:  — 

"What  are  statistics?  What  do  they  prove?  Cer- 
tainly numbers  count  in  politics,  and  a  vote  is  a 
factor  not  to  be  despised.  In  politics,  it  is  possible 
to  make  calculations,  to  say  that  1  =  1.  But  we  arc 
not  politicians ;  we  believe  in  a  social  transformation 
by  means  of  workmen's  combinations.  Our  weapon 
is  not  the  ballot,  but  the  strike.  Therefore  it  cannot 
be  said  that  a  statistical  calculation  of  the  number 
of  our  adherents  will  yield  any  information  whatever 
for  the  purpose  of  calculating  the  importance  of  a 
strike. 

"Here  are  10,000  weavers  who  have  been  on  strike 
for  six  weeks.  They  obtain  no  satisfaction  because 
the  shops  which  are  supplied  by  their  employers 
contain  an  inexhaustible  supply  of  material.      In 


THE   GENERAL   STRIKE  295 

revenge  for  this,  700  to  800  electricians  stop  work 

for  two  nights.  They  obtain  entire  satisfaction. 

Cannot    we    say,  then,     that   700   are   more   than 
10,000." 

What  M.  Griff uelhes  calls  politics  is  the  power 
of  the  vote.  The  military  assumption  that  victory 
is  on  the  side  of  the  big  battalions  has  been 
transferred  to  the  solution  of  political  and  legal 
questions.  Units  are  counted  on  the  supposition 
that  they  are  all  of  the  same  order,  and  that  the 
greatest  number  triumph. 

But  M.  Griffuelhes  is  not  a  supporter  of  these 
pacific  means.  He  counts  up  his  troops  and 
selects  them,  and  says  that  by  concentrating  his 
attack  on  some  particular  point,  with  particular 
combatants,  he  is  able  to  interrupt  the  working  of 
the  social  organism. 

This  is  quite  correct.  M.  Griffuelhes  is  a  con- 
spirator of  the  same  kind  as  Blanqui.  But 
Blanqui  still  relied  on  guns  and  swords,  whereas 
M.  Griffuelhes  means  to  employ  other  methods 
such  as  our  penal  codes  has  not  foreseen,  while  the 
law  of  1884  has  placed  the  trade  unions  at 
his  disposal  as  fighting  organisations.  This  points 
to  a  gap  which  will  have  to  be  filled  up  and  it  is 
not  so  large  as  he  imagines. 

In  any  case,  he  and  his  associates  are  candid 
enough  to  declare  that  the  strike  is  a  method  of 
carrying  on  the  social  war,  and  that  they  are  to  be 
looked  upon  as  belligerents. 

The  government,  which  fails  to  justify  its  exist- 
ence, if  it  does  not  guarantee  the  general  security 
against  enterprises  of  this  character,  must  fortify 
itself  with  the  laws  necessary  to  resist  them  and 
must  apply  them.  Since  the  law  of  1884  contains 
no  restrictions  of  this  kind,  trades  unions  give 
themselves  up  to  their  manoeuvres  with  the 
accompaniment  of  violence,  as  though  their  acts 
become  lawful  when  committed  by  their  members. 

The    law  does  not    give    the    Government    any 


296  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

means  of  ascertaining  the  number  of  persons  of 
which  a  trades  union  is  composed,  or  what  such 
unions  are  doing,  and  has  thereby  legalised  the 
existence  of  secret  societies. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Labour  Exchanges  in  Franxe 

Subsidising  the  arsenals  of  the  social  war — The  Labour 
Exchange  versus  labour — The  Labour  Exchanges 
versus  the  State — Inspectors  of  labour  and  the 
Labour  Exchanges. 

Not  only  does  the  "infamous  bourgeoisie"  tolerate 
the  organising  of  a  general  strike,  it  contributes  to 
it,  subsidises  it,  and  supports  it. 

In  Paris,  the  bourgeoisie  places  a  municipal 
edifice  at  the  disposal  of  the  agitators,  paid  for  by 
the  ratepayers  of  Paris  and  supported  by  them. 
By  its  help  the  leaders  of  the  trades  unions 
are  supplied  with  allowances,  heating,  lighting, 
etc.  For  what  purpose?  To  enable  them  to  pre- 
pare for  such  events  as  the  general  strike.  It  is 
there  that  men  can  be  heard  declaring  that,  if  they 
are  resisted,  they  will  organise  a  sanguinary  insur- 
rection ;  they  announce  that  the  electricians  will 
have  recourse  to  the  destruction  of  property  which, 
in  their  case,  will  consist  in  the  organised  making 
of  short-circuits  accompanied  by  fires  and  explo- 
sions as  the  necessary  consequences;  they  announce 
that  the  strike  of  March  8th,  1906,  was  only  a  first 
attempt,  but  that  they  will  take  care,  on  the  next 
occasion,  to  have  the  gasworkers  with  them.  They 
give  notice  that  in  future,  whenever  a  Municipal 
Council,  a  Parliament  or  a  Government,  declines  to 
submit  to  one  of  their  demands — demands  which 
are  always  made  in  the  name  of  a  minority  contrary 
to  the  general  interest — they  will  have  recourse  to 
some  means  of  this  kind  until  the  final  catastrophe 
is  attained,  of  which  they  allow  their  dupes  ^o 
catch  a  glimpse,  just  as  prophets  of  the  millennium 
gave  hints  of  the  last  judgment. 

They  quietly  prepare  this  work  in  a  Municipal 
palace,  at  our  expense;  and  scattered  over  various 


298  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

districts  of  France  there  are  one  hundred  and 
twenty-four  other  Labour  Exchanges,  so  called  be- 
cause they  are  solely  pre-occupied  with  strikes,  all 
of  them  supported  in  the  same  way  by  the  muni- 
cipalities. The  members  of  the  General  Confedera- 
tion of  Labour  are  justified  in  being  full  of  scorn 
for  a  capitalist  society  which  gives  them  so  large 
and  devoted  a  measure  of  assistance  towards  its  own 
destruction. 

I  denounced  the  Labour  Exchanges  in  the  Cham- 
ber of  Deputies  on  May  8th,  1893,  and  my  speech 
caused  them  to  be  closed.  M.  Mesureur  reopened 
them  in  1895,  with  the  result  that  the  disorders  took 
place  which  AL  Rousselle  denounced  in  the  Paris 
Municipal  Council.  But  they  are  still  subsidised 
and  their  heads  declare  that  "  the  Labour 
Exchanges  have  entered  into  acute  antagonism  with 
the  State." 

In  a  circular  dated  January  19th,  1900,  M. 
Millerand,  Minister  of  Commerce,  instructed  the 
inspectors  of  labour  to  enter  into  communication, 
either  personally  or  by  letter,  with  the  secretaries  of 
the  Labour  Exchanges  and  to  request  them  to 
inform  him  of  all  violations  of  the  laws  for  the 
protection  of  labour.  M.  Viviani  repeated  these 
instructions  and  ordered  the  inspectors  to  "ask  the 
trades  unions  to  report  violations  of  the  law 
relating  to  the  weekly  day  of  rest,  and  to  give  effect, 
as  promptly  as  possible,  to  the  information  they 
might  receive." 

The  Labour  Exchanges  carry  on  the  tradition  of 
the  Revolutionary  Committees  of  1793,  which  were 
originally  charged  with  the  surveillance  of  sus- 
pected persons  and  finally  with  the  duty  of  arresting 
them.  If  ever  a  law  be  passed  against  employers 
of  labour,  similar  to  the  "loi  de  prairial,"  they  will 
be  quite  ready  to  carry  it  out. 


»> 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  American  "Labor  Unions" 

The  "Western  Federation  of  Miners"— Murder  of  Mr 
Steunenberg — The  "  Martyrs  in  the  cause  of  Labour 
— Attacks  upon  Mr.  Roosevelt — The  'Western 
Federation  of  Miners"  dictates  a  verdict — The  Hay- 
wood case — Fear  of  being  summoned  to  serve  on  a 
jury — Intimidation  of  magistrates — The  right  to 
commit  crimes. 

I  HAVE  spoken  on  several  occasions^  of  the  American 
"Labor  Unions,"  whose  pohcy  may  be  summed 
up  as — monopoly  of  labour  for  the  trade  unionists 
and  right  to  boycott  non-unionists  and  employers 
who  oppose  their  commands.  They  do  not  improve 
with  age. 

Mr.  Steunenberg,  Governor  of  Idaho,  was  killed 
by  a  bomb  in  the  beginning  of  1907.  Moyer,  the 
president  of  the  "Western  Federation  of  Miners," 
Haywood,  the  treasurer,  and  Pettibone,  a  member 
of  the  executive  committee,  were  prosecuted  as  ac- 
complices in  the  murder,  which  was  committed  by 
one  Orchard.  The  "Western  Federation  of 
Miners,"  in  conjunction  with  other  "  Labor 
Unions,"  immediately  organised  demonstrations, 
in  which  the  accused  were  represented  as  "martyrs 
in  the  cause  of  labour." 

Mr.  Roosevelt,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Sherman,  a 
Member  of  Congress,  stated  that  the  accused  were 
"undesirable  citizens."  These  words  redoubled  the 
zeal  of  their  partisans,  at  whose  head  was  V.  Debs, 
who  had  attained  to  notoriety  by  his  violence  in 
1893  during  the  Pullman  strike,  as  president  of  the 
"Amalgamated  Railway  L^nion."  They  reproached 
the  President  with  venturing  to  influence  the  jury, 
as  though  the  conferences  and  meetings  held  in 
favour  of  the  accused  were  not  directed  to  any  such 
purpose.  Still,  they  declared  that  "death  cannot, 
will  not  and  shall  not  claim  our  brothers."     Did 

1  See  "Les  conflits  de  travail  et  leur  eolution. " 


300  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

their  brothers  kill  Governor  Steunenberg,  or  not? 
That  was  not  the  question.  The  only  question  was 
that  which  President  Roosevelt  in  his' letter  to  Presi- 
dent Jackson  put  in  the  following  words  :  "You  and 
your  associates  are  not  asking  for  a  fair  trial,  but 
are  dictating  a  verdict,  and  this  cannot  be  ap- 
proved." What  they  required  was  that  a  fresh 
crime  be  added  to  the  preceding  ones  and,  in  order 
to  obtain  this  result,  they  incurred  the  guilt  of 
exciting  to  violence  and  assassination.  Can  men 
be  considered  as  ordinary  labourers  who  lend  them- 
selves to  such  culpable  proceedings  ?  And  do  they 
deserve  any  other  epithet  than  that  of  undesirable 
citizens  ? 

The  first  case,  that  of  Haywood,  was  tried  at 
Boise  City,  Idaho.  Orchard,  who  was  prosecuted 
independently,  gave  evidence.  He  deposed  to  the 
complicity  of  Haywood,  Moyer  and  Pettibone  in 
the  murders  of  a  detective  at  Denver  and  of  two 
mine  superintendents,  in  the  blowing  up  of  the 
Independence  Railway  Platform,  Colorado,  which 
caused  the  deaths  of  thirteen  non-unionists,  and 
in  the  assassination  of  Governor  Steunenberg. 
He  obtained  sums  of  money  from  the  leaders 
of  the  "Western  Federation  of  Miners"  for 
each  of  his  crimes.  He  made  unsuccessful  attempts 
upon  Mr.  Peabody,  Governor  of  Colorado,  upon 
Judge  Gabbert,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Colorado, 
and  upon  several  other  persons  who  had  incurred 
the  displeasure  of  the  "  Western  Federation." 
Orchard's  evidence  was  supported  by  evidence  of 
comings  and  goings,  both  before  and  after  each 
criminal  act,  which  proved  his  relations  with  the 
leaders  of  the  Federation. 

The  defence  before  the  jury  was  in  entire  con- 
formity with  the  proceedings  at  the  meetings  which 
had  protested  against  the  prosecutions.  One  coun- 
sel denounced  the  "vipers  and  vultures  of  Wall 
Street."  Another  declared  that  the  conviction  of 
Haywood  would  be  looked  upon  as  "an  injustice 


THE  A^IERICAN  "LABOR  UNIONS"  301 

and  as  the  consequence  of  a  vile  and  murderous  ag- 
gression on  the  part  of  unscrupulous  capitalists." 

The  "Western  Federation  of  Miners,"  after 
Orchard  had  given  his  evidence,  identified  them- 
selves with  Moyer,  their  president,  Haywood,  their 
treasurer,  and  Pettibone,  a  member  of  their  execu- 
tive committee,  bv  re-electing  them  to  their  offices. 

Senator  E.  Borah,  an  energetic  supporter  of  the 
prosecution,  put  the  matter  in  these  words — "they 
have  killed  Steunenberg  in  order  to  show  that  they 
never  forgive  an  enemy."  And  he  added  that  the 
defence  was  nothing  but  an  apology  for  the  murder 
of  the  representatives  of  the  law. 

On  Saturday,  July  27th,  1907,  at  eleven  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  the  jury  retired  to  consider  their 
verdict.  Their  deliberations  extended  until  the 
Sunday  morning  at  eight  o'clock.  One  knows  that 
in  the  United  States,  as  in  England,  the  jury  must 
be  unanimous.  Four  jurors  found  Haywood 
guilty,  while  eight  were  in  favour  of  an  acquittal. 
Time  was  needed  to  convince  the  four  jurors  that 
Orchard's  regular  interviews  at  Denver,  before  and 
after  the  crimes,  were  merely  coincidences,  that 
Haywood  had  never  known  the  character  of  the 
man  with  whom  he  had  been  on  terms  of  intimacy 
for  a  number  of  years,  and  that  the  prosecution  was 
entirely  due  to  the  machinations  of  capitalists. 

The  verdict  of  the  jury  was  a  surprise  even  to 
Haywood's  friends  and  created  a  profound  impres- 
sion in  the  United  States.  No  fair-minded  man, 
whether  friend  or  enemy,  attributes  it  to  concern 
for  justice  and  truth  ;  everyone  looks  upon  it  merely 
as  a  confirmation  of  the  instructions  given  to  the 
jury  to  acquit,  given  by  the  demonstrations  against 
which  Mr,  Roosevelt  protested. 

The  day  after  the  acquittal,  all  the  Labor  L'nions 
of  Denver  decided  to  give  this  "martyr  in  the  cause 
of  labour"  a  triumphal  reception.  On  August  3rd 
a  deputation  appeared  at  the  station.  Haywood  got 
into  a  car  drawn  by  six  white  horses,  from  which  he 


302  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

delivered  an  address  to  the  30,000  men  who  had 
met  to  do  him  honour.  It  was  announced  at  the 
same  time  that  the  prosecutions  of  Moyer  and  Petti- 
bone  would  be  dropped.  The  members  of  the 
Labor  Unions  were  confirmed  in  the  conviction 
that  they  are  inviolable  because  they  are  to  be 
feared. 

All  jurors  are  not  heroes.  Mr.  John  Cummings, 
of  Chicago,  relates  that  in  that  city,  seven  hundred 
summonses  were  necessary  in  order  to  empanel  a 
jury  in  a  murder  case  in  which  trade  union  leaders 
were  involved.  In  the  same  city  men  guilty  of 
violence  in  the  course  of  a  strike  of  draymen  were 
all  acquitted. 

The  magistrates  are  intimidated  by  moral  pres- 
sure as  well  as  by  material  danger.  Whosoever 
ventures  to  disapprove  of  the  unlawful  acts  of  a 
Labor  Linion  is  at  once  denounced  as  an  instru- 
ment of  capital,  devoted  to  suspicion  and  contempt. 
The  arrest  is  an  "outrageous  and  impudent  inven- 
tion of  a  lawless  plutocracy."  If  a  police  officer 
arrest  a  member  of  a  union  who  has  committed  a 
murder,  he  is  denounced  for  having  tried  to  distin- 
guish himself  "in  order  to  earn  blood  money." 

On  the  other  hand,  the  judge  who  has  grovelled 
before  a  Labor  Union  is  pointed  out  as  "an  able 
and  distinguished  lawyer,  a  magistrate  full  of  sym- 
pathy with  honest  men  and  a  terror  to  all 
criminals."  Even  Mark  Twain  has  never  carried 
audacity  and  irony  to  this  extent. 

Each  Labor  Union  constitutes  a  separate  group, 
regulated  solely  by  passions  and  interests  which  are 
opposed  to  those  of  the  rest  of  the  nation  and  of 
the  human  race.  If  it  has  the  hypocrisy  to  disavow 
some  of  its  acts,  it  none  the  less  indicates  to  the 
judges,  the  juries,  and  the  President  of  the  LTnited 
States  that  it  has  the  right  to  commit  crimes,  and 
those  who  have  the  audacity  to  advance  such  pre- 
tensions do  not  represent  one-tenth  of  the  workmen 
of  the  United  States. 


CHAPTER   IX 

The  Exploitation  of  Intimidation 

M.  Jaures'  schemes — The  end  justifies  the  means — 
Buchez — The  use  of  violence,  according  to  M.  Georges 
Sorel — ^ Violence  in  strikes — The  leaders  of  the  Con- 
federation of  Labour  are  politicians — Parisian 
panics — Stendhal's  saying — ^'"Fear  is  not  in  the 
danger,  it  is  in  ourselves" — Social  bankruptcy  as  an 
ideal — The  socialist  tyranny  announced  and  realised. 

On  May  2nd,  1907,  my  excellent  friend  M.  F"aubert 
encountered  a  member  of  the  Confederation  of 
Labour  who  occasionally  condescends  to  have  a 
chat  with  him.  He  asked  M.  Faubert,  with  a  self- 
satisfied  air,  whether  he  had  seen  the  "Humanite" 
newspaper. 

M.  Faubert:  Certainly  not,  it  is  always  lost  in 
the  same  fog.  I  am  still  waiting  for  the  suggested 
legislation  promised  by  M.  Jaures  in  his  speeches 
on  June  12th  and  14th,  1906.  When  challenged  by 
M.  Clemenceau,  he  announced  that  he  would  dis- 
close the  secret  of  the  society  of  the  future  after  an 
interval  of  four  or  five  months.  That  time  has  now 
expired  and  I  do  not  see  what  he  is  thinking  about. 

The  Confederate :  He  cannot  disclose  them  inde- 
pendently ;  they  have  to  be  accepted  by  the  United 
Socialist  Party. 

M.  Faubert:  Then  we  shall  never  see  them.  But 
why  did  he  give  such  an  undertaking  ? 

The  Confederate :  Because  he  has  not  yet  sub- 
mitted to  the  party  discipline. 

M.  Faubert:  Yes,  the  Socialist  party  gives  its 
tenor  every  liberty,  but  does  not  consider  itself  as 
bound  by  him.  I  admit  that  the  party  is  not  dis- 
tinguished by  curiosity.  Its  members  are  content 
that  the  tenor  should  sing,  "Come,  let  us  march  to 
Paradise,"  without  asking  him  to  describe  the 
stages  on  the  road  or  the  plan  on  which  this  Para- 
dise is  constructed.  However,  from  the  moment 
when  M.  Jaures  scorns  all  the  facts,  and  all  the 


304  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

economic  laws  which  are  derived  from  them,  and 
believes  that  a  positive  law  can  do  everything,  it  is 
his  duty  to  put  these  positive  laws  into  writing  and 
to  reveal  them  to  the  world.  Jaur^s  promised  ten 
months  ago  to  bring  them  down  from  Sinai.  Moses 
did  not  keep  the  Israelites  waiting  so  long. 

The  Confederate :  He  will  bring  down  the  tables 
of  the  law,  amid  thunders  and  lightnings,  which 
will  make  capitalist  society  tremble. 

M.  Faubert:  I  recognise  the  usual  metaphors. 
M.  Georges  Sorel  has  likened  the  general  strike,  in 
the  "iMouvement  Socialiste,"  to  the  last  Judgment 
in  the  Apocalypse;  he  declares  that  Christians  have 
made  such  good  use  of  it  that  Socialists,  in  their 
turn,  should  exploit  the  sentiment  of  mad  terror 
and  chimerical  hope  which  it  inspired. 
Tlie  Confederate :  All  means  are  good. 
M.  Faubert :  The  end  justifies  the  means.  That 
is  a  Jesuit  formula,  adopted  by  a  Catholic  Socialist, 
Buchez,  who  tried  to  prove  that  the  "sovereignty 
of  the  people"  and  the  "sovereignty  of  the  end" 
are  identical. 

The  Confederate :  That  is  ancient  history.  We 
are  more  modern  now.  Read  the  "Reflexions  sur 
la  violence,"  published  by  M.  Georges  Sorel,  in  the 
same  review  (January  15th,  1906,  p.  18)  :  — 

"Experience  shews  that  the  bourgeoisie  easily 
submits  to  be  plundered,  provided  that  a  little  pres- 
sure be  applied  and  that  they  be  frightened  by  the 
threat  of  revolution :  the  party  which  is  able  to 
handle  the  spectre  of  revolution  most  boldly  will 
have  the  future  in  its  hands — The  workmen  are  able 
to  inspire  fear.  The  members  of  revolutionary 
trade  unions  know  how  to  make  excellent  use 
of  this  situation,  and  they  are  teaching  the  workmen 
that  it  is  not  a  matter  of  going  to  ask  for  favours, 
but  that  they  must  profit  by  the  cowardice  of  the 
bourgeoisie  to  impose  upon  them  the  will  of  the 
proletariat. 
M.  Faubert:  The  will  of  the  proletariat?  That 
is  a  wide  generalisation.    You  should  say,  the  will 


EXPLOITATION  OF  INTIMIDATION  305 

of  a  dozen  leaders  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour. 

The  Confederate :  Certainly,  it  doesn't  matter,  for 
they  act  with  the  consent  of  the  whole  number, 
and,  as  Sorel  savs,  thev  have  succeeded. 

"The  violence  of  the  workmen  possesses  an  extra- 
ordinary efficaciousness  in  case  of  strikes.  The  pre- 
fects are  afraid  of  being  induced  to  bring  the  force 
of  the  law  into  play  against  the  violence  of  insurrec- 
tion and  bring  pressure  to  bea.r  upon  employers  in 
order  to  force  them  to  yield :  the  safety  of  works  is 
nowadays  considered  as  a  favour  of  which  the  prefect 
can  dispose  at  will,  in  order  to  intimidate  both  parties 
and  lead  them  with  more  or  less  adroitness  to  an 
agreement.  There  have  not  been  wanting  numbers  of 
occasions  upon  which  the  leaders  of  the  movement 
have  seized  upon  this  situation  :  we  must  recognise 
that  they  have  made  use  of  the  weapon  which  was 
placed  in  their  hands  by  a  rare  piece  of  good  fortune. 
They  endeavour  to  intimidate  the  prefects  by  popular 
demonstrations.  .  .  .  The  administration,  beset 
on  all  sides  and  terrified,  seldom  fails  to  intervene 
after  a  time  with  the  employers  and  to  impose  upon 
them  a  transaction  which  becomes  an  encourage- 
ment to  the  propagandists  of  violence"  (p.  29). 

Here  you  see,  in  the  actual  words  of  the  philoso- 
pher of  the  party,  what  has  been  the  effect  of 
concessions,  negociations,  government  meddling 
with  strikes,  interpellations  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  and  the  conciliatory  sentiments  of  tender- 
hearted persons.  The  only  effect  has  been  to  teach 
people  to  use  violence. 

M.  Fauhert:  That  proves  that  the  men  who  are 
at  the  head  of  the  Socialist  party  are  politicians  who 
know  how  to  take  advantage  of  the  weapons  with 
which  their  adversaries  supply  them  in  the  belief 
that  they  are  disarming  them. 

The  Confederate :  You  cannot  blame  them  for 
that. 

M.  Fauhert:  I  do  not  do  so.  They  are  acting 
within  their  rights;  but  I  think  that  they  are  acting 
under  an  illusion  in   trying  to  terrorise  the  hour- 


3o6  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

geoisie.  M.  Georges  Sorel  says,  "experience  shews 
that  the  bourgeoisie  easily  submits  to  be  plun- 
dered." What  facts  can  he  cite  in  support  of  this 
assertion.  When,  on  the  contrary,  it  is  a  ques- 
tion of  defending  that  property  to  which  "  the 
democracy  clings  with  all  its  fibres,"  to  use  M. 
Jaur^s'  own  words,  it  exhibits  an  energy  which  has 
never  belied  itself.  There  is  no  night  of  August 
4th  to  be  put  down  to  the  account  of  the  bourgeoisie. 
The  Confederate :  The  question  does  not  arise  in 
the  same  manner. 

M.  Faubert :  It  does,  in  effect. 
The  Confederate :  But  would  you  deny  the  fear 
in  the  hearts  of  the  bourgeoisie  last  year  with 
regard  to  the  first  of  May  ?  Had  not  a  number  of 
people  made  preparations,  while  others  went  away  ? 
M.  Faubert:  That  ma^'  be,  but  that  onlv  proves 
that  those  people  were  lacking  in  confidence  in  the 
Government.  They  had  no  faith  in  its  power  to 
fulfil  its  primary  function — that  of  ensuring  in- 
ternal security.  The  Government  took  certain 
measures,  and  if  some  of  the  bourgeoisie  fled,  the 
soldiers  of  the  army  of  the  Confederation  stayed  at 
home.  They  do  not  seem  to  me  to  have  displayed 
much  more  courage. 

The  Confederate :  Can  you  deny  the  ease  with 
which  the  bourgeoisie  takes  fright  ?  See  what  has 
just  happened  in  the  small-pox  scare.  I  read  in 
the  "Progr^s  Medical"  of  March  30th  that  :  — 

"There  have  not  been  so  few  cases  of  small-pox  in 
Paris  for  five  years :  if  we  are  to  believe  the  'statis- 
tique  municipale  ofiicielle,'  the  number  of  cases  in 
the  last  two  weeks  was  8  and  12  respectively,  instead 
of  an  average  of  20.  Whence,  then,  comes  this 
strange  panic,  which  shakes  the  people  of  Paris  and 
makes  the  fortunes  of  the  institutions  which  supply 
vaccine?" 

Owing  to  a  few  newspaper  articles,  people  took 
fright  at  once  and  crowds  waited  at  the  vaccinators' 
establishments.       Ladies,     when     by    themselves, 


EXPLOITATION  OF  INTIMIDATION  307 

spoke  of  nothing  but  their  vaccination,  and  looked 
with  suspicion  upon  anyone  who  did  not  share 
their  terror.  One  might  venture  anything  with 
people  who  are  frightened  at  once,  without  making 
inquiries. 

M.  Faubert :  SteudHal  said  long  ago  that  "fear 
is  not  in  the  danger,  it  is  in  ourselves." 

The  Confederate :  It  only  remains,  then,  to  in- 
spire it.  See  what  we  ha\e  already  succeeded  in 
doing  with  white-lead,  and  what  we  are  about  to 
do  for  absinthe.  Do  you  believe  that  all  Parisians 
will  not  suffer  from  colic  on  the  day  when  they  are 
convinced  that  the  journeymen  bakers  are  playing 
"la  sabotage"  in  their  bakehouses? 

M.  Faubert:  You  have  just  said  "all  Parisians," 
Fear,  then,  is  not  the  special  characteristic  of  the 
bourgeois.  Do  you  think  that  the  members  of  the 
Labour  Exchange  and  their  wives  are  less 
frightened  of  the  small-pox  than  the  bourgeois? 
Fear  is  not  a  capitalist  privilege. 

The  Confederate :  The  workman  has  nothing  to 
lose. 

M.  Faubert:  Disabuse  yourself  of  that  idea.  It 
is  he  who  has  most  to  lose.  The  bloated  multi- 
millionaire will  invest  his  capital  abroad  if  it  be 
threatened,  and  he  will  transport  himself  abroad 
too,  if  he  feel  his  person  to  be  unsafe.  He  will  no 
longer  be  interested  in  French  industries  and  will 
spend  less  money  in  France.  As  Cobden  says, 
wages  rise  when  two  employers  are  running  after 
one  workman,  and  fall  when  two  workmen  are 
running  after  one  employer.  Your  policy,  the 
object  of  which  is  to  frighten  capital,  produces  a 
certain  result — that  of  making  it  take  flight.  If  it 
does  so,  it  will  not  transform  itself  into  wages,  and 
a  strike  with  violence  will  produce  a  certain  result 
— a  strike  of  employers.  It  will  transform  artificial 
unemployed  into  actual  ones. 

The  Confederate :  So  much  the  better.  That 
will  be  the  beginning  of  the  general  winding  up. 


3o8  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

M.  Faubert :  And  then  we  have  gone  bankrupt. 
Is  that  then  your  ideal  ? 

The  Confederate :  Yes,  the  bankruptcy  of  capi- 
talist society  ! 

M.  Faubert:  Well,  but  explain  for  us  the 
constitution  of  your  collectivist  society. 

The  Confederate :  You  want  to  know  too  much. 
But  when  I  asked  you  whether  you  had  read 
"THumanite,"  I  did  so  w^ith  reference  to  an 
observation  of  M.  Marcel  Sembat  to  the  effect  that 
poor  Yves  Guyot  had  for  a  long  time  been 
denouncing  the  Socialist  tyranny,  but  he  was 
hardly  listened  to. 

M.  Faubert:  Very  well,  then;  but  it  seems  to  me 
that  he  was  quite  right  and  that  the  others  were 
wrong  in  not  listening.  Those  who  profit  by  the 
Socialist  tyranny  act  like  all  tyrants;  they  abuse 
their  pow'er  and  act  in  such  a  way  that  people  begin 
to  listen  to  the  man  who  denounced  it  at  the  time 
when  people  like  M.  Goblet  placed  themselves  at 
the  head  of  the  Socialist  L^nion.  It  is  one  of  the 
results  of  the  threats  and  the  violence  of  vour 
friends. 


CHAPTER    X 

Compulsory  Arbitration 

"A  land  without  strikes" — New  Zealand — The  "Arbitra- 
tion Act,"  1894 — Set-back  to  boards  of  conciliation 
— Interference  of  the  Court — The  butchers'  strike — 
The  Lock-out  in  the  timber  trade — Hypocritical 
attitude  of  the  Unions  with  regard  to  strikes — Diffi- 
culties in  carrying  out  the  Act — Absence  of  moral 
support  of  persons  interested. 

Gribouille's^  disciples  have  formed  the  profound 
conception  of  abolishing  strikes  by  forcing  every 
individual  to  be  a  member  of  a  trade  combination 
and  by  regulating  all  questions  of  wages  and  of 
the  organisation  of  labour  through  the  medium  of 
incompetent  and  irresponsible  tribunals. 

In  support  of  their  theory  they  cite  a  book 
published  in  1900  by  the  Agent-General  of  New 
Zealand,  under  the  title  of  "A  land  without 
strikes, "2  to  glorify  the  Act  of  1894,  entitled  "An 
Act  to  encourage  the  formation  of  Industrial 
Unions,  and  to  facilitate  the  settlement  of  industrial 
disputes  by  conciliation  and  arbitration,"  The 
Act  did  not  in  terms  render  arbitration  compulsory, 
but  it  did  so  by  implication,  by  imposing  the 
making  of  joint  or  collective  contracts.  It  provides 
for  boards  of  conciliation  and  in  case  of  their 
failure,  for  a  short  reference  to  arbitration.  As 
soon  as  the  workmen  have  formed  a  union,  they 
are  able  to  impose  this  jurisdiction  even  upon 
employers  who  are  not  connected  w-ith  a  union. 
They  have  power  to  impose  arbitration  upon 
such  employers  when  none  of  the  members 
of  the  workmen's  union  have  an  interest  in  the 
dispute.       Even  if  the  employer  has  no  unionists 

1  Gribouille  was  the  wiseacre  who  threw  himself  into  the 
river  in  order  that  hi«  clothes  might  not  get  wetted  by  the  rain. 

2  See  also  M.  Metin,  "Le  wocialisme  sanw  doctrines"  (Paris. 
F.  Alcan) ;  L'arbitrage  obligatoire,  par  Bertrand  Nogaro 
(Paris,  Roustan);  "Australian  Socialism, "  by  A.  St.  Leger. 


310  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

among  his  employees,  he  is  not  protected  against 
proceedings. 

Strikes  and  lock-outs  are  prohibited.  This 
legislation  has  ended  in  submitting  the  regulation 
of  all  industrial  conditions  to  the  determination  of 
the  Courts,  and  they  have  acted  as  the  repositories 
of  legislative  powers  delegated  to  them  by 
Parliament. 

The  workman,  as  an  individual,  is  no  longer 
subject  to  bye-laws.  He  has  to  be  a  unit  in  a 
Union,  the  object  of  these  workmen's  unions  being 
to  prevent  labour  from  becoming  too  oppressive. 
A  union  always  has  five  objects  in  view — higher 
wages,  shorter  hours  of  work,  overtime,  the 
restriction  of  the  number  of  apprentices  and  the 
exclusion  of  non-unionists. 

It  has  been  stated  that  since  the  passing  of  the 
Act  the  boards  of  conciliation  dealt  with  99  per 
cent,  of  all  disputes;  but  their  decisions  have  no 
force,  and  are  so  well  recognised  as  nugatory  that 
their  proceedings  are  now  admitted  not  to  justify 
their  existence,  and  disputes  are  carried  direct  to 
the  tribunal  of  arbitration. 

The  preliminary  difficulty  encountered  by  the 
tribunal  is  to  find  out  what  are  the  points  in  dis- 
pute. Its  award  then  has  to  enter  into  details  of 
such  minuteness  that  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain 
what  it  sanctions  and  what  it  forbids,  and  every 
difference  of  opinion  between  employer  and 
employee  as  to  the  interpretation  of  the  award  gives 
rise  to  a  fresh  dispute. 

In  these  circumstances,  the  employer  always 
places  the  narrowest  construction  upon  the  award, 
a  minimum  wage  is  treated  as  a  maximum,  and 
general  antagonism  is  substituted  for  all  sense  of 
moral  obligation  as  between  employers  and 
employees.  This  leads  to  decrease  in  production 
and  consequent  increase  in  the  cost  of  living  and 
decline  in  the  purchasing  power  of  customers. 
Workmen  spending  the  greater  part  of  their  wages 


COMPULSORY   ARBITRATION       311 

as  consumers  have  found  their  position  by  no 
means  improved. 

New  Zealand  relies  on  its  export  of  mutton  and 
is  obliged  to  consider  the  net  cost  of  producing  it. 
When  the  butchers  in  the  slaughter-houses,  in 
combination  with  the  employees  in  the  cold  storage 
warehouses  at  Wellington,  Canterbury,  Otago, 
Gisborne  and  Southland,  claimed  an  increase  of 
salary,  the  tribunal  of  arbitration  rejected  their 
demand,  whereupon  they  went  out  on  strike  on 
March  7th,  igo6.  On  5larch  8th  judgment  was 
given  against  them  for  damages  amounting  to 
;{,'7oo.  The  Attorney-General  and  a  Judge  of  the 
Supreme  Court  were  of  opinion  that  this  was  neither 
a  debt  nor  damages,  nor  a  penalty  for  a  breach  of 
contract,  but  a  penalty  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  so  that  the  defendants  would  have  to  go  to 
prison,  if  they  failed  to  pay. 

The  strike  came  to  an  end  on  March  20th,  the 
defendants  either  paying  the  fines  or  disappearing 
to  seek  employment  in  other  colonies.  Air.  Hall 
Jones,  representing  the  New  Zealand  Government, 
nevertheless  said  that  this  was  not  a  set-back  for 
the  Act,  but  that  the  Government  had  merely  to 
amend  it,  in  order  to  render  its  operation  more 
effective. 

But  these  are  not  the  only  trades  effected.  On 
May  20th  the  Western  Australian  newspapers 
announced  that  Mr.  Holman  and  two  employees 
of  the  Sawmill  Society  had  been  cast  in  damages 
at  Perth,  or  to  imprisonment  in  default,  for  having 
aided  and  abetted  the  strikers  in  the  timber  trade. 
On  June  4th  the  same  newspapers  reported  that 
proceedings  had  been  taken  against  employers  in 
the  timber  trade  for  organising  a  lock-out. 

Here  is  evidence  that  compulsory  arbitration  is 
unable  to  prevent  either  strikes  or  lock-outs.^ 

With  the  official  optimism  which  is  the  character- 

1  "The  Individualist,"  June,    1907. 


312  SOCLVLISTIC   FALLACIES 

istic  of  all  governments,  one  of  the  Ministers  had 
asserted  that  the  Unionists  disapproved  of  this 
resort  to  strikes.  At  the  very  moment  when  he 
was  making  this  statement,  the  Trades  Unions  of 
Wellington  and  the  Labour  Council  were  passing 
a  vote  of  sympathy  with  the  strikers.  Vain  efforts 
were  made  to  induce  other  Unions  to  express  dis- 
approval :  there  may  have  been  some  apparent 
changes  of  attitude,  due  to  various  influences,  but 
their  general  attitude  was  left  in  no  doubt. 

The  Lion.  John  JMacGregor,  a  former  member 
of  the  New  Zealand  Upper  House,  recognised  the 
set-back  to  compulsory  arbitration.^ 

Unionists  who  fail  to  submit  to  the  process  of 
the  Tribunal  of  Arbitration  are  liable  to  damages, 
but  in  New  Zealand,  as  in  other  countries,  they 
have  succeeded  in  putting  themselves  above  the 
law  with  impunity.  Officially,  the  Unions  dissuade 
their  members  from  violating  it,  but  they  encour- 
age them  to  do  so  by  underhand  methods,  thereby 
escaping  all  pecuniary  responsibility.  Individuals 
may  be  cast  in  damages,  and  sentenced  to  imprison- 
ment in  default. 

But  an  American  visitor  to  New  Zealand,  whc 
was  so  much  attracted  by  the  "Arbitration  Act'" 
that  he  wanted  to  import  it  into  the  United  States, 
was  told  by  a  New  Zealander  that  it  was  hopeless 
and  would  not  work  because  the  prisons  of  the 
United  States  are  not  large  enough.  Supposing 
you  obtain  a  judgment  for  damages  against  four  or 
five  thousand  members  of  a  Union  which  violates 
the  Arbitration  Act  or  refuses  to  satisfy  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Court.  They  decline  to  pay.  Where 
are  the  prisons  with  a  sufficient  capacity  to  contain 
them  ?  And  what  will  become  of  their  families 
while  they  are  serving  their  term  ?  They  could 
not  be  left  to  die  of  starvation. 

The  working  of  compulsory  arbitration  in  New 

1    "The    Times,"    Financial    and     Commercial     Supplement, 
April  8th  and  May  6th,  1907. 


COMPULSORY   ARBITRATION       313 

Zealand  has  demonstrated  its  impossibility  in  the 
absence  of  the  moral  support  of  all  the  parties 
interested ;  from  the  moment  when  it  fails  to  obtain 
it,  it  stands  condemned.  Could  it  obtain  such 
support  in  other  countries?  Those  who  say  so, 
have  the  universal  experience  of  mankind  against 
them. 

Coercion  implies  submission  and  not  consent; 
consent  alone  creates  a  moral  obligation.  This 
explains  the  superiority  of  contract  as  a  motive  for 
action  to  arrangements  imposed  by  authority. 
Compulsory  arbitration  would  be  followed  by  the 
same  consequences  in  other  countries  as  in  New 
Zealand,  namely,  contempt  for  the  law  on  the  part 
of  those  who  realise  the  possibility  of  violating  it 
with  impunity  and  of  declining  to  accept  the 
decisions  of  the  Courts,  while  claiming  to  exact 
respect  for  that  law  from  their  adversaries.  They 
would  make  a  unilateral  law  of  it,  placing  precisely 
the  same  construction  upon  it  as  that  which  is  put 
forward  in  regard  to  Article  1780  of  the  Civil  Code 
in  France.  "I  claim,"  says  the  author  of  this 
article,  "that,  without  the  constitution  of  the 
Tribunal  of  Arbitration,  the  workmen  would  have 
had  a  far  larger  share  of  the  increased  prosperity 
of  the  colony  than  they  have  in  fact  obtained." 


CHAPTER   XI 
Conclusions 

(i).  In  the  eyes  of  the  Labour  leaders,  the 
Labour  Exchanges  and  the  Confederation 
of  Labour,  strikes  are  not  an  instrument 
of  an  economic  order,  but  a  political  instru- 
ment. 

(2).  Tlie  weakness  of  the  Government  and  the 
magistracy  in  France  has  introduced  violence 
as  one  of  the  factors  which  make  for  success 
in  the  conduct  of  strikes.  Strike  leaders 
consider  themselves  as  above  the  law. 

(3).  A  strike  is  an  act  of  a  small  group  of 
individuals,  tending  to  the  obtaining  by 
them  of  advantages  at  the  expense  of  all 
their  fellow-citizens. 

(4).  Combinations  and  strikes  of  officials  and  of 
persons  employed  in  services  of  a  public 
nature  apply  all  the  powers  held  by  them 
for  the  interest  of  the  public  service  to  the 
furthering  of  their  particular  interests. 

(5).  This  anarchical  conception  is  bringing  us 
back  to  the  private  wars  of  the  Middle 
Ages;  trade  combinations  will  contend 
against  one  another  at  the  general  expense, 
with  methods  of  violence  and  total  contempt 
of  the  law. 

(6).  The  organisation  of  compulsory  arbitration 
in  New  Zealand  has  detached  the  individual 
from  the  State  and  has  made  him  a  member 
of  a  Union,  without  preventing  strikes. 


BOOK    IX 
SOCIALISM     AND    DEMOCRACY 


CHAPTER   I 

The  Programme  of  the  International 
Association 

Karl  Marx'  subtleties — Developments  rather  than  re- 
forms— Set-back  to  Internationalism — Herve's  logic 
— Socialists  act  contrary  to  their  professions. 

Herr  Werner  Sombart^  says  of  the  inaugural 
address  of  the  International  Association  of  Work- 
men, "It  is  a  veritable  masterpiece  of  ability, 
although  its  scheme  is  not  very  clear  :  but  Marx  is 
its  author  and  his  obscurity  is  intentional.  .  .  . 
Opposing  tendencies  had  to  be  reconciled.  There 
is  something  to  satisfy  everyone  in  the  address. 
In  its  convincing  portraiture  it  exhibits  the 
wretchedness  of  the  working  classes  under  the 
capitalistic  yoke.  ...  It  celebrates  the  advant- 
ages of  free  co-operation,  Proudhon,  Buchez,  the 
advocates  of  co-operative  production  subsidised  by 
the  State,  Lassalle  and  Louis  Blanc.  It  contains 
the  common  sentimental  passages  which  Marx 
reluctantly  let  fall  from  his  pen.  ...  Of  the 
object  of  the  Association  there  was  little  question." 

The  Socialists  continue  to  carry  out  this  policy ; 
what  they  desire  is  developments  rather  than  re- 
forms, and,  while  courting  the  mob,  they  aim,  not 
at  the  true  and  the  useful,  but  at  the  art  of  exploit- 
ing the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  ignorant  and 
the  seekers  after  chimaeras. 

The  headquarters  of  the  International  Association 
was  transferred  to  New  York  in  1872.  It  did  not 
perish  in  consequence  of  Government  measures 
taken  to  destroy  it,  but  was  dislocated  bv  the 
quarrels  of  Karl'  Marx  and  Bakunin,  which  like 
those  which  rage  between  Guesde,  Jaur^s  and 
Lagardelle,  give  us  an  idea  of  the  harmony  which 
will  prevail  in  the  Collectivist  Paradise. 

Karl  Marx  concluded  his  Manifesto  of  1847  with 

I  Loc.  cit.  pp.   118-127, 


3i8  SOCIALISTIC   FALLACIES 

the  words,  "Proletarians  of  all  countries,  unite." 
Werner  Sombart  says  that  Marx  had  "vainly 
attempted  to  introduce  the  ideals  of  solidarity  and 
union  from  without."  They  certainly  have  not 
radiated  from  within. 

The  French  Socialists  do  not  display  the  slightest 
sympathy  for  Belgian  or  Italian  workmen  who 
come  to  France ;  the  English  workmen  have 
obtained  the  passing  of  the  "Aliens'  Act,"  and  the 
expulsion  of  the  Chinese  from  the  Transvaal ;  the 
American  workmen  have  inherited  the  European 
immigration  difficulties  and  have  prohibited  the 
entry  of  the  Chinese  and  Japanese. 

Socialists  nevertheless  talk  of  Society  with  a  big 
S,  of  Society  with  neither  frontiers  nor  nations. 
When  Karl  Marx  said,  "Proletarians  of  all  nations, 
unite,"  he  did  not  say  that  the  proletarians  of 
China  were  excluded  from  his  appeal.  The 
agrarians  of  Eastern  Prussia  have  suggested  the 
importation  of  Chinese  coolies.  Is  the  German 
Socialist  Party  disposed  to  welcome  them  as 
brothers  ? 

At  the  Stuttgart  Congress,  the  Germans  dis- 
played a  strong  national  sentiment  and  were  very 
angry  with  Herv6.  Still  it  is  Herv^,  and  not  they, 
that  is  logical.  Every  Socialist  who  admits  the 
existence  of  a  separate  nation,  admits  individual 
property ;  for  a  nation  presupposes  the  ownership 
by  a  group  of  individuals  of  a  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface. 

Speaking  generally,  the  Socialists  act  contrary 
to  their  professions.  They  say  that  they  want  to 
place  property  in  the  hands  of  the  people,  but  they 
will  either  place  it  in  the  hands  of  bodies  of  men 
which,  whatever  the  name  by  which  thev  may  go, 
are  greedier  than  any  Harpagon,  or  in  the  hands 
of  the  State,  which,  in  its  turn,  will  delegate  it  to 
departments  of  administration ;  and  these  will 
exploit  it  for  their  own  benefit,  not  for  that  of  the 
public, 


THE  INTERNATIONAL  ASSOCIATION  319 

They  talk  of  liberty,  but  all  their  proposed  legis- 
lation is  the  legislation  of  tyranny  and  police, 
and  we  have  seen  them  reassimilate  free  to  the  type 
of  servile  labour. 

They  talk  of  an  ideal  of  government,  and  instead 
of  limiting  its  attributes,  they  endow  it  with  powers 
as  vague  and  indeterminate  as  those  of  Oriental  or 
African  potentates. 

They  say  nothing  of  liberty,  for  they  understand 
it  in  the  same  sense  as  the  maid-servant  of  Frankfort 
who,  on  the  day  after  the  Revolution  of  1848,  said 
to  her  mistress,  "Now  that  we  are  equal,  you  shall 
carry  the  coal-box  and  I  will  wear  the  diamonds. "^ 


1  Quoted    by    M.    G'eorg   Siminel,     "' Philosophie   de    ia    bou- 
veraiuete"  Journal  des  Economistes,     15  juillet,    1907. 


CHAPTER   II 

Socialism  versus  Democracy 

Factors  opposed  to  "social  evolution" — Socialism  opposed 
to  small  industries  and  small  properties — Appeal  to 
workmen's    legislation — Sidney    Webb    opposed    to 
thrift  and  co-operation — Apology  for  idleliess — The 
Confederation  of  Labour  and  the  "slough  of  demo- 
cracy"— "The  class  for  itself  and  the  class  in  itself" 
— Some  leaders  of  the  proletariat  class — The  primary 
school  teachers  and  the  class  in  itself. 
In    order    that    the  "Socialist    evolution"  mav    be 
realised,   it  is  necessary  that  industry  and  capital 
should  be  concentrated  in  a  few  hands,  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  that  there  should  be  a  ^reat  mass  of 
wage-earners,   increasingly  wretched  and  deprived 
of  all  personal  property.     Such  is  the  process  as 
determined  bv  Marx  and  Engels  in  the  "Commun- 
ist    Manifesto,"    and    confirmed    by    the     Erfurt 
Congress  in  1891. 

But  this  phenomenon  does  not  appear  if  the 
"artisan"  works  in  isolated  independence;  neither 
does  it  appear  if  those  who  carry  on  small 
industries,  working  in  their  own  houses,  have  not 
been  previously  absorbed  in  the  proletariat  crowd 
of  workmen  employed  in  the  great  industries;  nor 
does  it  appear  if  the  small  proprietor  preserves  his 
love  of  individual  property.  The  prophesied 
social  evolution  miscarries;  the  heralded  paradise 
of  the  socialisation  of  all  the  means  of  production 
and  exchange  vanishes.  Democracy  and  Socialism 
are  antagonistic. 

Have  I  invented  and  formulated  this  proposition 
for  polemical  purposes?  It  comes  from  a  Socialist, 
Herr  Werner  Sombart.^ 

"What  should  be  the  attitude  of  socialism  with 
regard  to  the  masses  which  have  not  yet  fallen  into 
the  ranks  of  the  proletariat,  such  as  the  lower  middle 

1  "Le  Soeialisme  ec  le  mouvement  social  au  xixe  eiecle,"  p- 
144  foil. 


SOCIALISM  VERSUS  DEMOCRACY    321 

class  (petite  bourgeoisie)  and  of  that  part  of  the  popu- 
lation which  may  perhaps  never  exhibit  any  tendency 
to  inclusion  in  the  proletariat?    Should  the  object  of 
the  proletariat  be  essentially  proletarian  or  should 
it   be   democratic  ?     If   it   become   democratic,   what 
becomes  of  its  programme?    Is  it  to  be  socialism  or 
democracy  ?     The    fundamental    contention    is    ex- 
pressed in  the  opposition  between  these  two  points 
of  view." 
Bernstein  published  a  series  of  articles  in   1905 
under  the  title,   "Will  Social  Democracy  Become 
Popular?"! 

In  order  to  obtain  recruits  for  the  Socialist  army 
it  is  necessary  to  "proletariarise"  those  who  carry 
on  small  industries  as  well  as  small  trades,  and  the 
owners  of  small  properties,  all  of  whom  display 
elements  of  resistance  to  the  socialisation  of  the 
means  of  production.  The  movement  of  concen- 
tration, which  does  not  take  place  naturally,  rnust 
be  obtained  by  force,  in  order  to  arrive  at  the 
catastrophe  foretold  by  Karl  Marx,  as  "on  the  one 
hand  a  few  large  industrial  establishments  and  on 
the  other  the  masses  who  possess  nothing  at  all, 
the  former  absorbing  the  latter  without  their  being 
able  to  offer  resistance." 

In  order  to  reach  this  point,  the  simplicity  and 
ignorance  of  the  very  persons  is  to  be  exploited 
whom  it  is  proposed  to  ruin,  and  of  their  repre- 
sentatives in  Parliament.  And  legislation  is  to  be 
carried  out  on  the  lines  of  social  insurance  and 
regulation  of  labour,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
annihilate  the  small  men,  to  overburden  them  with 
general  expenses  and  risks,  to  close  their  shops 
and  businesses  and  to  try  by  artificial  means  to 
bring  about  the  concentration  of  industries  to 
which  economic  liberty  fails  to  lend  itself. 

Werner  Sombart  frankly  recognises  this  when 
he  says  that  "a  good  system  of  workmen's  legisla- 

1  "Socialistische  Monatshefte,"  August,  October  anfl  No- 
vember, 1905.  See  the  "Mouveraent  aocialiste,"  January  15th, 
1906,    p.  117. 

V 


322  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

tion  is  a  weapon  of  the  highest  order  for  proprietors 
of  undertakings  on  a  large  scale,  wherewith  to  ruin 
the  small  men  and  disembarrass  themselves  of  their 
competition.^ 

M.  E.  Vandervelde  also  demands  this  factitious 
concentration.  "We  must,"  he  says,  "wish  for, 
and  even  foster  by  legislative  measures,  the  passing 
of  the  degenerate  forms  of  individual  production 
into  the  superior  forms  of  production  in  common. "^ 

People  exclaim  that  the  small  or  family  work- 
shop gets  out  of  control,  and  demand  its 
suppression.  It  will  be  the  compulsory  stage  on 
the  road  to  proletarisation,  if  small  proprietors, 
small  industrialists  and  small  traders,  in  fact  all 
persons  with  a  moderate  position  in  life,  fail  to 
remember  that  democracy  and  socialism  are  antago- 
nistic. They  have  already,  in  spite  of  numerous 
warnings,  frequently  been  the  dupes  of  those  who 
lured  them  to  work  for  their  own  destruction. 
Laws,  such  as  those  with  reference  to  a  weekly  day 
of  rest,  are  of  a  nature  to  give  them  such  warning. 

Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb  protest  against  a 
group  of  careful  artisans  carrying  on  an  enterprise 
by  themselves.  They  would  be  supporting  a 
minor  industrv,  "which  is  diametrically  opposed  to 
the  Socialist  ideal."  They  would  be  producing 
for  their  own  profit,  and  the  community  would 
obtain  no  more  power  over  their  industry  than  over 
the  industry  of  the  individual. 

While  the  Belgian  Socialists  make  use  of 
Vooruit  and  of  some  other  co-operative  societies, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Sidney  Webb  declare  that  they  pre- 
sent "the  worst  aspect  of  current  affairs."  Work 
and  thrift  are  considered  as  vices  by  Socialists.  M. 
Paul  Lafargue  has  written  the  apology  of  idleness. 
This  is  one  way  of  flattering  the  lowest  instincts, 
and   it   is  evident   that  if  these  excellent  apostles 

1  Werner  Sombarl,  op.  cit. 

2  "Le   Collectivisme   et   I'evoiiition   industriellB, "  p.   53. 


SOCIALISM  VERSUS  DEMOCRACY    323 

were  listened  to,  pauperism  would  increase  instead 
of  diminishing. 

Socialism  or  Democracy.  The  two  are  in  con- 
flict, as  the  German  Socialists  declare;  and  Werner 
Sombart  and  Bernstein,  like  the  rest  of  the 
Socialists,  only  suggest  temporary  and  embarrassed 
solutions  of  the  difficulty. 

In  France,  the  theorists  and  the  leaders  of  the 
Confederation  of  Labour,  MM.  Georges  Sorel, 
Hubert  Lagardelle  and  Griffuelhes,  with  greater 
hardihood,  clearly  say  that  thev  intend  to  put  all 
the  lower  middle  class  outside  the  door  of  Social- 
ism, in  order  to  extricate  the  workman  from  the 
"slough  of  democracy."  Their  aim  is  that  the 
economic  and  the  political  classes  be  united  into 
one,  and  they  distinguish  between  "the  class  in 
itself"  and  "the  class  for  itself,"  the  former  con- 
stituting the  "economic  group"  and  the  latter  the 
"psychological  group." 

The  "class  in  itself"  is  supplied  by  proletarians 
of  the  type  conceived  by  Karl  Marx,  whose  hours 
of  labour  constantly  i'ncrease  in  length,  while  their 
wages  decrease;  the  "class  for  itself"  overruns 
them  and  annexes  owners  of  small  properties,  small 
and  even  great  traders  and  employers,  clerks, 
ofificials,  philanthropists,  millionaires,  Protestant 
pastors,  priests,  professors,  men  of  letters,  etc.  But 
Karl  Marx,  a  doctor  of  the  University  of  Berlin, 
and  the  son-in-law  of  a  Prussian  "junker,"  was 
not  a  member  of  the  proletariat  of  which  he  declared 
himself  to  be  the  great  chief.  The  same  was  the 
case  with  Engels,  who  was  entrusted  by  his  father 
with  the  management  of  a  large  cotton  mill  at 
Manchester,  and  who,  w^hile  following  the  hounds 
and  leading  the  life  of  a  gentleman,  was  not  ruined 
by  his  efforts.  How  many  men  are  there  at  the 
head  of  the  German  Socialist  Party,  who  are  en- 
titled to  be  ranked  with  the  "class  in  itself"?  Mr. 
Hyndman,  the  founder  of  Social  Democracy  in 
London,  is  a  rich  member  of  the  middle  class.     Is 


324  SOCIALISTIC    FALLACIES 

Frances  Evelyn,  Countess  of  Warwick,  with  her 
castle  and  her  20,000  acres — a  lady  who  is  a  first- 
rate  horsewoman  and  a  member  of  the  Social 
Democratic  Federation— a  member  of  the  "class  in 
itself?" 

All  these  people  combine  discontents  more  or  less 
justified,  deceptions  more  or  less  deserved,  fancies 
more  or  less  intelligent,  ideas  more  or  less  vague, 
and  ambitions  more  or  less  considerable. 

This  "party  for  itself"  answers  to  the  idea  con- 
ceived by  Jules  Guesde  in  1878 — 79  of  combining 
all  the  proletarians  found  in  the  different  middle- 
class  parties  for  the  purposes  of  the  impending 
revolution,  in  order  to  organise  the  revolt  against 
the  capitalist  world.  The  partv  was  to  possess  a 
revolutionary  and  extra-Parliamentary  character. 
The  "revolutionary  preface"  ended  in  electoral 
combinations  which  returned  Paul  Lafargue.  Jules 
Guesde,  and  several  others  by  means  of  coalitions. 
Jules  Guesde  supported  AI.  Leon  Bourgeois  in  his 
ministry  in  1896.  M.  Combes  in  his  ministry  suc- 
ceeded in  closing  the  Labour  Exchanges  and  the 
Parliamentary  Socialists  did  not  desert  him. 

The  theorists  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour  do 
not  desire  that  the  "class  in  itself"  and  "the  class 
by  itself"  should  be  superimposed  and  that  the  one 
should  be  overrun  and  carried  away  by  the  other. 
They  consider  that  the  policy  of  the  struggle  of 
classes,  as  understood  by  the  followers  of  Marx, 
ends  in  the  constitution  of  a  bourgeois  political 
party  and  pour  all  their  contempt  upon  it. 

With  reference  to  the  claim  of  the  primary  school 
teachers  to  be  admitted  to  the  Labour  Exchanges, 
they  say  that  "an  association  of  primary  school 
teachers  cannot  be  interested  in  questions  arising 
out  of  the  relations  between  trades  unions,  or 
in  such  as  concern  stoppage  of  work  or  internal 
disputes,  general  strikes,  shortening  the  hours  of 
labour,  etc.  It  cannot  itself  go  on  strike.  The 
teachers   cannot    be    present  at  the  sittings  of  the 


SOCIALISM  VERSUS  DEMOCRACY    325 

Confederation  of  Labour,  at  which  they  have  no 
interest  to  defend;  they  cannot  take  part  in  dis- 
cussions within  the  LInions,  Trade  Societies  and 
Labour  Exchanges  for  the  same  reason." 

If  they  have  now  admitted  them,^  and  look  upon 
them  with  a  sympathetic  eye,  Hke  the  associations 
of  ofhcials,  that  is  only  l^ecause  they  look  upon 
them  as  elements  in  the  political  dissolution  aimed 
at  by  the  Confederation  of  Labour. 


I  See  "The  Times,"  August  13th,  1909 


CHAPTER   III 

How  Many  Are  There  ? 

Tlie  trade  unions  represent  minorities — English  Trade 
Unions — American  Labor  Unions— Number  of  mem- 
bers in  France — Electoral  results — Elections  to  the 
Reichstag  —  England  —  Socialist  set-backs  at  the 
municipal  elections — The  United  States — Strength  of 
the  socialists  in  France. 

In  actual  fact,  a  minority  of  the  workmen  in  a 
particular  trade  are  members  of  trade  unions,  a 
small  minority  of  the  members  leads  the  union, 
and  this  small  oligarchy  expects  to  impose  its  will 
upon  the  rest. 

The  leaders  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour  ex- 
pect the  Government,  the  municipalities  and  the 
whole  body  of  ratepayers  to  obey  their  commands. 

In  England,  where  the  Trade  Unions  are  the 
most  powerful,  they  only  represent  15  per  cent,  of 
the  number  of  workmen  ;  in  the  United  States,  the 
Labour  Unions,  so  far  as  it  is  possible  to  ascertain 
with  reference  to  organisations  which  remain 
shrouded  in  mystery,  do  not  represent  one-tenth  of 
the  workmen  ;  in  France  there  is  no  means  of  ascer- 
taining the  number  of  members. 

The  Labour  Office  gave  the  number  of  workmen 
who  are  members  of  trade  unions  as  836,000  out 
of  a  total  of  4,032,000  on  January  ist,  1906,  and  as 
896,000  on  January  ist,  1907,  exclusive  of  agricul- 
tural labourers,  or  a  percentage  of  20  and  25 
respectively ;  but  how  many  of  them  pay  their  sub- 
scriptions regularly  and  remain  members  of  a 
union  from  one  year's  end  to  another  ?  And  how 
many  of  their  number  does  the  Socialist  Party 
count  as  paying  their  subscriptions  ?  Fifty  to  sixty 
thousand,  according  to  the  statements  of  their 
representatives  at  their  Congresses,  when  they  are 
discussing  their  respective  forces.  According  to 
the  reports  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour  at  the 
Marseilles  Congress  in  October,   1908,  the  receipts 


HOW  MANY  ARE  THERE?  327 

from  June  ist,  1906,  to  June  30th,  1908,  a  period 
of  25  months,  were  27,339  francs.  Adding  to  this 
the  proceeds  of  the  "Bourses"  and  of  the  sale  of 
their  newspaper,  "La  Voix  du  Peuple,"  the  total 
receipts  would  be  124,430  francs,  or  4,900  francs 
per  month. 

If  we  refer  to  electoral  forces,  we  find  a  recoil  in 
the  successes  of  the  German  Socialists,  w'hom 
Engels  announced  in  1892  to  be  about  to  come  into 
power  in  1898.  At  the  elections  to  the  Reichstag 
in  1907;  the  social  democratic  members  were  re- 
duced to  79,  as  against  81  in  1902;  the  elections  of 
January  25th  and  February  6th,  1909,  reduced  their 
number  to  43.  But,  it  may  be  said,  the  number  of 
electors  has  increased.  It  has  in  fact  increased 
from  3,010,000  to  3,251,000,  an  increase  of  250,000 
or  8  per  cent.,  but  the  centre  vote  has  increased  by 
400,000,  and  the  liberal  vote  by  240,000  or  40  per 
cent. 

In  England  also,  Mr.  Keir  Hardie  announced 
in  1892  that  the  country  was  Socialist.  In  1894  the 
Trade  Union  Congress  at  Norwich  passed  a  resolu- 
tion in  favour  of  the  socialisation  of  all  the  means 
of  production  and  exchange;  in  1895,  ^t  Cardiff, 
the  Congress  confined  itself  to  nationalisation  of 
land,  mines  and  railways.  At  the  General  Election 
of  1895,  the  members  of  the  Labour  Party  were 
reduced  from  12  to  4,  Mr.  Keir  Hardie  being 
among  the  victims.  The  Trade  Unions  freed  them- 
selves from  Socialism.  At  present,  the  Labour 
Party,  having  opposed  Mr.  Chamberlain's  fiscal 
policy,  numbers  fifty  members  in  the  House  of 
Commons.  But  how  many  Socialists  are  there 
among  them  ?  Twenty-nine  style  themselves 
Socialists,  but  decline  to  make  any  confession  of 
faith  in  the  doctrine  of  the  class  war  or 
to  give  expression  to  collectivist  aspirations.  The 
Fabians,  or  temporising  Socialists,  want  to  begin 
with  Municipal  Socialism.  I  was  not  disturbed  at 
the  result  which  would  be  obtained  from  experi- 


328  SOCIALISTIC  FALLACIES 

merits  of  this  kind.  Practical  Socialism  will  always 
be  curbed  by  one  thing — the  Budget.  And  the 
electors  of  members  of  the  London  County  Council 
and  the  London  Borough  Councils,  have  taken 
fright  at  the  increase  of  expenditure  and  have 
recently  cut  short  the  experiments  in  Municipal 
Socialism  which  had  been  attempted  in  that  City. 

In  the  United  States  the  number  of  Socialists  is 
insignificant,  and  one  may  say  that  all  the  Socialist 
writers,  journalists  and  agitators  are  of  German 
origin.  At  the  elections  to  the  Chamber  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  1904,  they  numbered  408,000;  at  the 
elections  in  1906,  they  had  fallen  to  285,300  out  of 
a  total  of  eleven  millions  of  electors,  a  proportion 
of  about  2^  per  cent.  :  and  yet  this  is  the  country 
which  Socialists  ought  to  consider  as  having  ad- 
vanced furthest  on  the  road  to  collectivism  marked 
out  by  Karl  Marx,  by  reason  of  the  enormous  size 
of  a  number  of  its  industrial  establishments  and  of 
the  accumulations  of  capital  to  be  found  in  certain 
hands. 

In  France  they  have  drawn  all  their  power  from 
the  weakness  entertained  for  them  by  the  Radicals 
and  Radical-Socialists.  There  are  fifty-three  mem- 
bers owning  allegiance  to  the  party  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies,  but  many  of  them  were  elected  with  a 
balance  of  Radical  votes ;  and  how  many  are  there, 
among  those  who  voted  for  them,  who  would  care 
to  see  Socialism,  in  however  attenuated  a  form,  put 
into  practice  ?  As  regards  independent  Socialists, 
there  are  a  certain  number  who  have  been  rejected 
by  the  united  Socialist  Party  and  by  all  honest 
parties.  Combining  the  160,000  votes  obtained  by 
these  buffoons  with  the  960,000  votes  given  to  the 
United  Socialist  Party,  we  have  a  total  of 
1,120,000  votes  out  of  8,900,000,  or  7  per  cent. 
And  three-fourths  of  them  are  only  voting  for  a 
word,  while  hostile  to  the  things  for  which  it 
stands. 


CHAPTER    IV 

The   Havre   Programme   and    M.    Jaures' 
Solution's.      M.  Deslinieres'  Provisional 

Laws 

How  many  Socialist  electors  are  there  who  accept 

the  programme  of  the  Havre  Congress  of  1880,  as 

drawn    up  by   Karl   Marx  and  proposed  by  Jules 

Guesde?     It  is  as  follows  :  — 

"Whereas  the  emancipation  of  the  pi'oducing  class  is  that 
of  all  human  beings,  without  distinction  of  sex  or 
race  ;  whereas  the  producers  can  only  be  free  in  so  far 
as  they  are  in  possession  of  the  means  of  production 
(lands,  factories,  shops,  banks,  credit,  etc.) : 

And  whereas  there  are  only  two  forms  in  which  the 
means  of  production  can  belong  to  them  : — 

i.  The  individual  form,  which  has  never,  as  a  matter 
of  fact,  obtained  general  acceptance,  and  is  increas- 
ingly eliminated  by  industrial  progress. 

ii.  The  collective  form,  the  material  and  intellectual 
elements  of  which  are  constituted  by  the  very  de- 
velopment of  capitalist  society  ; 

Whereas, 

This  collective  appropriation  can  only  be  the  issue 
of  the  revolutionary  action  of  the  producing  class — 
or  proletariat — organised  as  a  distinct  political  party  ; 
Such  an  organisation  should  be  promoted  by  all 
the  means  at  the  disposal  of  the  proletariat,  including 
universal  suffrage,  which  is  thus  transformed  from 
an  instrument  of  deception  into  an  instrument  of 
emancipation  ; 

The  French  Socialist  workers,  in  setting  up  as  the 
object  of  their  efforts  the  political  and  economic  ex- 
propriation of  the  capitalist  class  and  the  return  to 
collectivity  of  all  the  means  of  production,  have 
decided,  as  a  means  of  organisation  and  of  warfare, 
to  take  part  in  the  elections  with  the  following  plat- 
form :  — 

A.     PoLTTicAL  Part. 

i.  Abolition  of  all  laws  restricting  freedom  of  the  press, 
of  meeting  and  of  association,  and  particularly  of  the 


OJ'^ 


SOCIALISTIC  FALLACIES 


law  against  the  International  Working  Men's  Asso- 
ciation. Abolition  of  the  "service-book,"  that  bane 
of  the  working  classes,  and  of  all  the  articles  of  the 
code  which  set  up  the  inferiority  of  the  workman  as 
against  his  employer,  and  of  woman  as  against  man. 

ii.  Abolition  of  the  budget  of  public  worship  and  restora- 
tion to  the  nation  of  "the  said  goods  held  in  mort- 
main, movable  and  immovable,"  the  property  of 
religious  corporations  (decree  of  the  Commune,  April 
2nd,  1871)  including  all  the  industrial  and  commer- 
cial appurtenances  of  these  corporations. 

iii.  Abolition  of  the  national  debt. 

iv.  Abolition  of  standing  armies  and  universal  military 
service  on  the  part  of  the  people. 

V.  Commercial  independence  in  local  government  and 
police. 

B.     Economic  Part. 

i.  One  day  of  rest  in  the  week,  or  legal  restriction  of 
employers  from  allowing  work  on  more  than  six  days 
out  of  seven— Legal  limitation  of  working  day  to 
eight  hours  for  adults — Prohibition  of  the  labour  of 
children  in  private  workshops  under  the  age  of  four- 
teen ;  and  limitation  of  hours  of  work  to  six  for 
persons  between  fourteen  and  sixteen. 

ii.  Supervision  by  wox-kmen's  organisations  for  the  pro- 
tection of  apprentices. 

iii.  Legal  minimum  of  wages,  fixed  annually  in  accord- 
ance with  the  price  of  provisions  in  the  locality  by  a 
workmen's  committee. 

iv.  Legal  prohibition  to  employers  from  employing 
foreign  workmen  at  less  wages  than  Frenchmen. 

V.       Equality  of  wages  for  workers  of  either  sex. 

vi.  Scientific  and  technical  training  of  all  children,  as 
well  as  their  support  at  the  expense  of  Society,  as 
represented  by  the  State  and  the  Commune. 

vii.  Support  of  the  aged  and  infirm  at  the  expense  of 
Society. 

viii.  Abolition  of  all  interference  by  employers  in  the 
administration  of  the  relief,  benefit  and  other  funds 
of  the  working  classes,  which  are  to  be  restored  to 
the  sole  management  of  the  workmen. 

ix.  Liability  of  employers  in  respect  of  accidents, 
guaranteed  by  a  deposit  paid  by  them  into  the  work- 


THE   HAVRE   PROGRAMME  331 

men's  relief  funds,  proportionate  to  the  number  of 
workers  employed  and  the  dangers  presented  by  each 
particular  industry. 

X.  Participation  of  the  workmen  in  drawing  up  regula- 
tions specially  applicable  to  various  factories  ;  aboli- 
tion of  the  right  usurped  by  employers  to  punish 
their  workmen  by  fines  and  stoppages  (Decree  of  the 
Commune  of  April  27th,  1871). 

xi.  Cancellation  of  all  contracts  whereby  public  pro- 
perty has  been  alienated  (banks,  railways,  mines, 
etc.)  and  management  of  all  State  factories  by 
the  workmen  employed  therein. 

xii.  Abolition  of  all  indirect  taxes  and  conversion  of  all 
direct  ones  into  a  progressive  income  tax  on  all  in- 
comes in  excess  of  3,000  francs — Abolition  of  the 
right  of  inheritance  through  collaterals,  and  of  all 
inheritance  in  the  line  of  direct  descent  in  the  case 
of  estates  exceeding  20,000  francs. 

What  are  the  solution.s  which  M.  Jaur^s  offers 
to  each  question  ?  He  wants  to  take  us  back  to  the 
Egypt  of  the  Pharoahs  by  entrusting  the  State  with 
the  monopoly  of  corn.  He  said  ironically, ^  "Guyot 
still  accuses  us  of  being  retrogressive."  I  certainly 
cannot  call  him  progressive. 

On  June  1  ith  he  offered  his  solution  of  the  crisis 
in  the  vineyards.  "On  and  after  July  ist,  1907, 
estates  in  which  the  culture  of  vines  constitutes  the 
principal  source  of  income  are  national  property. 
The  nation  is  to  entrust  their  exploitation  to  a 
general  association  of  workers  employed  in  wine 
growing,  formed  by  wage-earners  of  all  kinds 
employed  in  viticulture."  The  owners  of  the 
estates  did  not  display  enthusiasm  for  the  scheme. 

M.  Deslini^res  has  made  an  attempt,  in  a  bulky 
volume  entitled,  "Le  Collectivisme,"  to  endow  it 
with  a  legal  organisation.  The  "urgent  and  pro- 
visional laws"  which  he  proposes  are  as  follows  :  — 
i.  To  arm  the  excutive  in  order  to  prevent  all  disorders 
as  they  originate. 

1  February,   1894. 


332  SOCIALISTIC  FALLACIES 

ii.  To  suspend  the  liberty  of  the  press  and  the  right  of 
public  meeting. 

iii.  To  restore  to  the  Government  the  right  to  nominate 
the  municipalities. 

iv.  To  make  a  permanent  requisition  of  all  Frenchmen 
of  full  age  and  under  the  retiring  age,  in  order  to 
provide  for  the  public  services,  in  consideration  of  a 
fair  wage. 

In  the  event  of  refusal,  to  confiscate  all  assets 
which  produce  an  income  greater  than  that  of  a  day 
labourer  of  the  third  class ;  those  whose  assets  fall 
below  this  to  be  ranked  among  those  who  are  in 
receipt  of  poor  law  relief. 

v.  Forfeiture  of  French  nationality  and  confiscation  of 
goods  in  the  case  of  every  person  sojourning  abroad 
for  moie  than  three  months  without  permission. 

vi.     Cancelling  of  all  process  against  debtors. 

vii.  All  officials,  employers  and  agriculturists  are 
enjoined  to  continue  their  duties  and  their  enter- 
prises on  pain  of  the  forfeitures  set  out  in  article  (iv.) 

viii.  Right  to  requisition  everything. 

And  how  long  is  this  system  to  remain  in  force  ? 
M.  Deslinieres'  answer  is— Not  only  until  the  final 
enactment  of  laws,  but  until  their  complete  appli- 
cation. 

M.  Georges  Renard,  who  aims  at  an  eclectic  and 
attractive  form  of  Socialism,  says,  "Socialism  will 
be  a  regime  of  authority. "^  On  this  point  I  agree 
with  him. 


1  Georges   Renard,  "Le   Regime   Socialiste,"  1888  (Paris,   F. 
Alcan) ;  "Le  Socialieme  a  Toeuvre,"  p.  300. 


CHAPTER    V 

Social  and  National  Policy 

While  the  Socialists  declare  at  their  Congresses, 
beginning  with  the  Congress  of  Limoges,  that  they 
cannot  ally  themselves,  even  temporarily,  with  one 
of  the  sections  of  the  Republican  bourgeoisie,  why 
do  the  members  of  the  Radical  Party  desire  to 
carry  out  a  Socialist  policy?  Why  does  M. 
Clemenceau  denounce  the  capitalist  regime,  which 
he  "has  attacked  and  is  going  to  attack  again," 
and  proclaim  himself  a  "Socialist"  ?  Why  does  he 
adopt  as  his  programme  a  portion  of  the  working 
programme  of  the  Gotha  and  Erfurt  Congresses, 
and  of  the  Harve  Congress  in  1880,  as  drafted  by 
Karl  Marx  and  proposed  by  Jules  Guesde  and 
Paul  Lafargue  ? 

The  programme  of  the  Radical-Socialist  Party, 
adopted  by  M.  Clemenceau,  is  :  — 

(i).  The  purchase  of  the  Western  Railways, 
for  the  State  must  work  the  railways  in 
imitation  of  Prussia.  This  is  pure  State 
ownership  and  not  Socialism. 
(2).  A  personal  and  progressive  income  tax, 
still  in  imitation  of  Prussia,  whereby  the 
principles  of  the  French  Revolution  are 
combined  with  a  form  of  government 
which  has  preserved  a  system  of  voting  by 
classes  for  nearly  half  a  centur}'^,  under 
the  constitution  of  1850. 
(3).  Old  age  pensions,  still  in  imitation  of 
Germany,  but  in  an  aggravated  form, 
which  is  driving  us  to  total  failure  in  social 
policy  so  called,  or  else  in  national  policv. 
Which  of  these  should  be  sacrificed  to  the  other? 


CHAPTER    VI 

Positive  and  Negative  Policy 

You  cannot,  you  may  say,  carry  out  a  negative 
policy ;  and  in  order  to  carry  out  a  positive  one, 
you  take  the  property  belonging  to  one  class  of 
persons  and  give  it  to  others.  Your  policy  of 
spoliation  is  positive,  but  the  guarantee  for  the 
security  of  property,  ensuring  you  from  being 
robbed  by  force  or  fraud,  is  negative ;  the  police, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  exercise  its  supervision  for  your 
benefit  without  your  perceiving  it,  is  negative;  the 
undoubted  duties  of  the  Government  for  the  pur- 
pose of  ensuring  internal  security  and  preserving 
you  from  external  dangers  are  negative  duties, 
although  they  produce  positive  results,  in  the  shape 
of  liberty  of  action  for  everyone  and  the  assurance 
that  he  will  reap  the  benefits  of  such  action. 


CHAPTER    VII 

Tactics  of  the  Social  War 

Creation  of  the  Socialist  spirit — The  legality  of  violence — 
Jules  Guesde  and  Georges  Sorel. 

How  is  the  Social  Revolution  to  be  precipitated  ? 
What  are  the  best  tactics  for  the  Social  War? 
These  are  the  subjects  of  discussion  at  Socialist 
Congresses. 

At  the  Nancy  Congress,  on  August  13th,  1907, 
M.  Firancette  made  a  very  interesting  declaration. 
"In  the  Paris  Labour  Exchange,"  he  said,  "there 
is  only  a  small  number  of  Socialists  among  the 
three  thousand  members  of  the  trade  union  to  which 
I  belong." 

M.  Emmanuel  Levy,  Professor  in  the  Faculty 
of  Law  at  Lyons,  considers  that  "the  true  creation 
of  the  Socialist  spirit  is  the  class  war  itself. 
Political  action  will  have  to  complete  by  laws  of 
expropriation  what  the  trade  union  has  already  suc- 
ceeded in  conquering."  This  reassuring  Professor 
of  Law  is  a  supporter  of  "direct  action,"  but  he 
contemplates  a  legalised  robbery  and  seeks  to 
reconcile  the  unionism  which  is  to  perform  the 
first  act  with  the  political  Socialism  which  is  to 
perform  the  second. 

Jules  Guesde  looks  upon  the  destruction  of  pro- 
perty and  plant  with  a  certain  amount  of  contempt. 
He  prefers  a  struggle  conducted  with  ballot  papers, 
but  inasmuch  as  this  method  might  appear  bour- 
geois, he  adds  that  "it  is  only  the  prelude  to  the 
struggle  with  musket-fire."  This  weapon  is  some- 
what out  of  date.  But  M.  Jules  Guesde  has  never 
believed  in  "natural  necessity."  He  is  able  to  say 
that  he  has  constantly  repeated  that  "revolution  by 
force  remains  the  only  final  solution.  Collective 
property  can  only  issue  from  the  revolutionary 
action  of  the  producing  class — or  proletariat — 
organised  as  a  class  partv." 


336  SOCIALISTIC  FALLACIES 

M.  Georges  Sorel,  one  of  the  pundits  of  the 
Confederation  of  Labour,  for  his  part  says,  "the 
greater  the  development  of  trade  unions,  the  more 
will  social  conflicts  assume  the  character  of  pure 
struggles  like  those  of  armies  in  the  field. "^ 

The  leaders  of  the  Workmen's  Socialist  Party 
and  of  the  Confederation  of  Labour  are  in  funda- 
mental agreement.  M.  Jules  Guesde  alone  asks 
for  the  collaboration  of  those  whom  he  wishes  to 
destroy,  while  MINL  Georges  Sorel,  Lagardelle 
and  Griffuelhes  only  count  upon  the  class  which 
is  interested  in  destruction.  They  have  less  faith 
in  human  simplicity  than  M.  Jules  Guesde. 

The  Socialists  may  quarrel  among  themselves 
about  personal  matters,  but  they  are  all  agreed 
upon  one  point — the  social  war.  One  needs  to  be 
deeply  versed  in  the  subtleties  of  the  Socialist 
vocabulary  in  order  to  understand  the  distinctions 
between  the  motion  of  La  Dordogne,  which  was 
supported  by  141  votes,  and  the  du  Cher  motion 
which  obtained  167,  and  was  adopted.  I  quote 
the  latter  :  — 

The  congress,  convinced  that  the  working  classes 
will  only  be  able  to  completely  emancipate  themselves 
by  the  combined  force  of  political  action  and  of  the 
action  of  the  trade  unions,  by  the  trade  unions 
proceeding  to  the  length  of  a  general  strike  and  by 
the  conquest  of  all  political  power  in  view  of  the 
general  expropriation  of  capitalism  : 

Convinced  that  this  double  action  will  be  all  the 
more  effective  in  proportion  as  the  political  and  the 
economic  organisms  maintain  their  full  autonomy, 
the  aims  of  the  trade  unions  being  the  same  as  those 
of  Socialism : 

Seeing  that  this  fundamental  agreement  of  politi- 
cal and  of  economic  action  on  the  part  of  the 
proletariat  will  necessarily  ensure  a  liberal  co-opera- 
tion between  the  two  organisations,  free  from 
confusion,  subordination  or  distrust :  » 

1  "Reflexions  suv  la  violence,"  Mouvement  Socialiste,  15  iuin, 
1906,  p.  162. 


TACTICS  OF  THE  SOCIAL  WAR     337 

Accordingly  invites  all  militant  members  to  labour 
to  the  utmost  of  their  power  to  dissipate  every  mis- 
understanding between  the  corporate  and  the  politi- 
cal organisations  of  the  working  classes. 

The  34  millions  of  owners  of  property,  large  and 
small,  the  bourgeois  and  capitalists  of  France,  cer- 
tainly keep  their  tempers  well,  seeing  that  these 
organisations  for  the  purpose  of  pillage,  either  by 
violence  or  by  law,  are  carried  on  in  the  exercise 
of  a  legitimate  right ! 

This  indifference  is  sufficiently  humiliating  to 
the  Socialists,  for  it  proves  the  profound  confidence 
entertained  by  those  who  own  property  in  the 
vanity  of  their  efforts.  And  how  many  among 
those  Socialists  who  are  richly  provided  with 
worldly  goods  expect  to  be  called  upon  to  lay  their 
quota  upon  the  altar  of  conquering  Socialism  ? 


w 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Against  the  Law 

"The  will  of  your  class"— Edgar  Quinet :  democracy  and 
the  law— The  disciples  of  force— The  class  war 
according  to  Aristotle. 

In  the  "Communist  Manifesto"  (§45)  Karl  Marx 
says:  "What  is  vour  law,  unless  it  be  the  will  of 
your  class?"  Socialists  are  logical  in  making 
light  of  the  advice  given  by  Edgar  Ouinet  to  the 
democracy  to  "cling  inflexibly  to  the  law."  Yet 
where  will  it  go,  if  it  does  not  cling  to  it?  If  it 
travels  without  a  compass,  does  it  expect  to  take  a 
reasonable  course?  Does  not  the  whole  of  history 
teach  us  how  deceptive  and  precarious  are  the 
triumphs  of  force?  Does  not  the  history  of  our 
insurrections  contain  the  most  terrible  lessons? 
Socialists  may  celebrate  the  anniversary  of  the 
Commune ;  do  they  look  upon  it  as  a  victory  ? 

Even  admitting  that  they  are  strong  enough  to 
succeed  in  giving  a  legal  aspect  to  their  policy  of 
pillage  by  a  second-hand  majority  in  an  assembly, 
they  would  only  find  themselves  on  the  morrow  in 
the  presence  of  ruins  and  would  be  obliged  to  recon- 
stitute a  legal  system  which  recognises  the  capacity 
of  each  individual  to  own  property  and  to  contract. 

The  Socialists  have  consistently  attacked  me, 
and  rightly  so,  for  I  attacked  them  at  the  time  when 
the  Radical  party  placed  itself  at  their  disposal. 

The  members  of  the  Socialist  party  claim  equal- 
ity before  the  law,  and  protection  for  their  goods 
and  persons,  and  declare  themselves,  at  the  same 
time,  to  be  a  party  committed  to  social  war,  in 
search  of  the  best  means  of  robbing  you.  I  really 
cannot  conduct  colloquies  in  an  amicable  way  with 
people  who  force  me  to  keep  my  hand  on  my  purse. 

This  class  war  is  of  far  earlier  date  than  the 
great  industries.  The  honour  of  discovering  it  is 
not  to  be  ascribed  to  Karl  Marx.      Twenty-three 


AGAINST  THE  LAW  339 

centuries  before  his  time  Aristotle  said:  "The 
demagogues,  when  the  multitude  are  above  the 
law,  are  always  cutting  the  city  in  two  by  quarrels 
with  the  rich."i 

In  the  cities  of  Greece  they  demanded  the  con- 
fiscation of  lands  and  the  cancellation  of  debts,  and 
they  expected  to  throw  the  whole  burden  of  fiscal 
charges  upon  the  rich.  The  Socialists  of  to-day 
are  merely  plagiarists  of  the  demagogues  whose 
works  Aristotle  had  beheld.  Only,  in  those  days 
of  servile  labour,  a  man  who  neither  owned  land 
nor  carried  on  a  small  trade,  could  not  live  except 
by  the  generosity  of  the  public  treasury,  and  he 
was  obliged  to  assume  these  advantages  for  himself 
by  the  conquest  of  power.  Nowadays,  the  exercise 
of  a  profession  or  trade  guarantees  him  the  enjoy- 
ment of  normal  resources,  and  he  knows  that,  if 
he  goes  too  far  in  his  threats  or  his  measures 
against  the  capitalist,  he  will  dry  them  up  at  the 
fountain-head.  The  demagogues  of  old  threw  the 
cities  in  which  they  were  dominant  into  anarchy, 
and  most  frequently  it  was  a  stranger  who  came 
to  re-establish  an  oligarchy  or  a  tyranny. 


1  Aristotle,  "Politics,"  v.  chap.  ix.  §10  (Jowett'e  translation). 


CHAPTER  IX 

Depressing  Effect  upon  Wealth 

Income   tax— Mr.    Hearst    and    Mr.    Roosevelt— Death 
duties  in  France. 

Socialist  action  has  a  depressing  effect  upon  all 
fixed  capital.  Not  only  do  threats  of  confiscation 
cause  uneasiness  for  the  future;  the  proceedings  of 
an  unscrupulous  policy  are  disquieting  for  the 
present.  A  suggested  income  tax,  the  effect  of 
which  is  to  place  an  instrument  of  pressure  in  the 
hands  of  the  Socialists  destined  to  annihilate  large 
fortunes  and  to  exhaust  moderate  ones,  does  not 
invite  people  to  embark  in  enterprises  or  to  buy 
properties  or  transferable  securities.  Since  the 
same  spirit  prevails,  in  different  degrees,  in  coun- 
tries whose  evolution  is  advanced,  everyone  looks 
uneasily  around  him.  Furthermore,  in  order  to 
carry  on  a  policy  of  preserving  the  political  equili- 
brium, of  giving  a  few  bones  to  the  demagogues  to 
gnaw,  concessions  are  made  to  the  policy  of  spolia- 
tion. In  order  to  contend  against  Mr.  Hearst,  the 
wealthy  demagogue,  Mr.  Roosevelt  feels  the  need 
of  declaring  war  upon  the  corporations  and  threat- 
ening the  millionaires  with  confiscation  of  a  portion 
of  their  estates  upon  their  decease. 

Governments  in  democratic  countries  like  the 
United  States  and  France,  carry  on  a  system  of 
class  policies,  which — contrary  to  the  principle  of 
the  equality  of  all  before  the  law  and  of  the  law  as 
the  same  for  all — brings  us  back  to  the  old  system. 

Optimists  would  do  well  to  cast  an  eye  upon  the 
following  table  of  estates,  passing  by  inheritance 
and  deed  of  gift,  in  France. 

Periods.  Millions  of  francs. 

1881-1885  6,182 

1886-1890  6,375 

189I-1895  6,930 

1896-I9OO  6,869 


DEPRESSING  EFFECT  UPON  WEALTH  341 

Periods.  Millions  of  francs. 

I9OI-I904   6,489^ 

1905-I907   6,944 

In  the  two  periods  1896- 1900  and  1 901-1904  there 
was  a  decHne  as  compared  with  the  period  1891- 
1895,  and  the  period  1905-1907  only  exceeds  the 
period  1891-1895  by  14  millions.  Between  the  two 
extreme  periods  covering  a  space  of  26  years,  the 
increase  is  only  12  per  cent.,  or  less  than  J  per 
cent,  per  annum.  Contrary  to  certain  optimistic 
assertions,  the  increase  of  wealth  in  France,  even 
if  its  development  has  not  been  arrested,  is  at  all 
events  extremely  slow%  and  among  the  causes  which 
are  answerable  for  this,  it  may  safely  be  stated 
that  Socialism  must  be  placed  in  the  front  rank. 


1  Bulletin   du   ilinist^re  des  Finances,    Fevrier,   1909. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  Impotence  of  Socialism 

What  remains  of  Socialism,  then,  when  we  come 
to  close  quarters  with  it  ?  And  what  are  the  future 
prospects  of  this  policy  of  spoliation  and  of 
tyranny  ? 

The  Socialist  party  cannot  balance  up  a  govern- 
mental majority  without  destroying  government 
itself,  for  it  cannot  admit  that  government  fulfils 
the  minimum  of  its  duties.  When  a  strike  breaks 
out,  the  intention  of  the  strikers  is  that  security  of 
person  and  of  property  shall  not  be  guaranteed ; 
and  they  have  been  preceded,  supported  and  fol- 
lowed in  this  by  certain  Radicals  who,  when  put 
to  the  test,  have  been  obliged  to  commit  acts  such 
as  they  have  violently  laid  to  the  charge  of  pre- 
ceding governments.  Socialist  policy  represents 
contempt  for  law,  and  all  men,  whether  rich  or 
poor,  have  an  interest  in  liberty,  security  and  jus- 
tice, for  the  private  interest  of  each  individual  is 
bound  up  with  these  common  blessings.  Socialists 
despise  them  all. 

A  law,  the  object  of  which  is  to  protect  each 
man's  property,  is  supported  by  all  who  possess 
anything,  and  where  is  the  man  in  advanced 
societies  who  is  incapable  of  being  robbed  because 
he  possesses  nothing  ? 

A  law,  the  object  of  which  is  to  despoil  a  portion 
of  the  citizens  of  a  State,  unites  in  opposition  to 
it  all  those  against  whom  it  is  directed  and  those 
whom  it  alarms,  for  they  are  afraid  that  it  may 
extend  to  them.  It  has  not  even  the  support  of 
those  for  whose  benefit  it  is  made,  for  only  a  very 
small  number  obtain  a  direct  benefit;  the  great 
majority  only  experience  disappointments,  and 
cause  the  feelings  of  envy  and  rapacity  which  pro- 
cured the  demand  and  approval  of  such  a  law  to 
recoil  upon  those  who  have  benefited  by  it. 


THE  IMPOTENCE  OF  SOCIALISM     343 

A  law  of  spoliation  may  be  passed  and  carried 
into  effect,  but  in  the  event  of  its  results  becoming 
permanent,  it  runs  the  risk  of  destroying  the  govern- 
ment which  has  assumed  the  responsibility  for  it. 

Socialist  policy  is  a  permanent  menace  to  the 
liberty  and  security  of  citizens,  and  cannot  there- 
fore be  the  policy  of  any  government,  the  primary 
duty  of  which  is  to  exact  respect  for  internal  and 
external  security.  If  it  fail  therein,  it  dissolves 
and  is  replaced  by  anarchy ;  and  inasmuch  as 
everyone  has  a  horror  of  that  condition  which  be- 
trays itself  by  the  oppression  of  violent  men, 
banded  together  solely  by  their  appetites,  an  appeal 
is  made  to  a  strong  government  and  to  a  man  with 
a  strong  grip,  and  the  risk  is  incurred  of  falling  back 
into  all  the  disgraces  and  disasters  of  C^esarism, 

There  are  three  words  which  Socialism  must 
erase  from  the  fa(;'ades  of  our  public  buildings — the 
three  words  of  the  Republican  motto  :  — 

Liberty,  because  Socialism  is  a  rule  of  tyranny 
and  of  police. 

Equality,  because  it  is  a  rule  of  class. 

Fraternity,  because  its  policy  is  that  of  the 
class  war. 


THE  END 


THE    WESStX     PRESS,     LTD. 
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